Item 0002 - The Danish Freighter, Lexa Maersk

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326-IM-0065-0002

Title

The Danish Freighter, Lexa Maersk

Date(s)

  • 1955-01-03 (Creation)

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The Times of Ceylon Press

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This is the first picture of the Danish freighter, Lexa Maersk, lying ablaze in her death-bed, at Tanjong Rhu, Singapore. She caught fire on Christmas day. It was brought to Ceylon by the ship's carpenter, Mr. Qualick Antonia, who arrived here by air today to join a sister ship, Kurstan Maersk, which put into port this morning.
Mr. Antonia was one of the 32 members of the crew who were rescued from the blazing inferno, and here is the dramatic tale he related to "The Times of Ceylon".
It was Christmas day, and the ship was heading for Singapore. Passengers and crew had enjoyed their Christmas lunch. Suddenly, about 4.30 p.m. a terrific explosion was heard and the ship burst into flames. An easterly breeze fanned the flames into fury.
Lifeboats were lowered and the passengers and crew rowed away to safety.
For six days and nights firemen of the Singapore Harbour Board poured hundreds of tons of water into the stricken ship, and she was finally towed to her death-bed where she now lies — a heap of scrap, still smoking.
The carpenter now joins the Kurstan Maersk, which, too, had an unfortunate accident off Siam, when she was grounded.
The captain of this ship, Captain K. Stahlfest Moller, told "The Times of Ceylon" that his vessel was grounded for four days, but succeeded by her own power to get afloat again.

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Image

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image/tiff

Filesize

16.4 MiB

Uploaded

June 4, 2015 12:10 AM

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