POST CARD POSTED " AT SEA " 27 11 1972 FROM THE FAMOUS ACHILLE LAURO

POST CARD POSTED " AT SEA " 27 11 1972 FROM THE FAMOUS

ACHILLE LAURO

Several years later came the demise of the great Willem Ruys / Achille Lauro. November 30 1994, she was cruising off Somalia in the Indian ocean, when yet another fire broke out. This time there would be no reprieve for her, as this fire would be devastating. After the fire began to burn out of control, the captain gave the order to abandon ship at 0500 local time, 0200 GMT. All 1,090 passengers and crew abandoned ship. The tanker ‘Hawaiian King’ was the first of a number of ships that answered Achille Lauro’s SOS.

The Panamanian registered ‘Hawaiian King’ rescued most of the passengers. Sadly, two souls died, and eight were injured during the transfer of passengers from life rafts onto the tanker. As night fell, survivors were recovering onboard the ‘Hawaiian King.’ The US Navy cruiser Gettysburg. which by now had been stocked with much needed food. The fire raged for three days, and the Achille Lauro was declared a total loss. “The Achille Lauro is listing by at least 40 degrees, and you can still see smoke and flames, the passenger decks on the stern side are burning, and flames are licking halfway up the vessel,” said the tanker’s captain, Dimitrios Skapinakis. Achille Lauro sank on December 2.

The tragic fire ended the distinguished career of this fine ship

THE SOUTH AFRICANS WERE LOADED ONTO THE USS GETTYSBURG AS SHE PULLED ALONGSIDE THE SINKING SHIP .