The Last Cruise of the Mikhail Lermontov
Under the command of a relief Master; Captain Vladislav Vorobyev, she left Sydney on the 6th of February 1986 for what was billed as a "two week cruise of a lifetime". She visited Auckland and Tauranga on the North Island before arriving at the capital city of Wellington on the morning of Saturday, the 15th of February 1986. At midnight she departed to cross the treacherous Cook Strait for Picton at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound on the Northern coast of the South Island.
743 people were on board. Of the 372 passengers, 327 were Australians including 5 children, 36 British, 6 Americans, 2 Germans, and one New Zealander. Of the 348 crew members, 330 were Russian and 18 British staff. Another 9 were Australians and 13 were British CTC staff members in transit. The weather was overcast with heavy rain and a 25 knot Southerly wind.
Passengers reported that the ship had gone between the Light-house and the end of Cape Jackson (above) instead of clearing the rocky reef which extended past Walker Rock and was clearly shown on the charts. The vessel was drawing about 27 feet and Captain Jamison claimed his understanding of the depth in the channel to be 35 to 40 feet. It can be seen from the above chart that there was ample room for the Mikhail Lermontov to have passed through the channel had she missed the major rock pinnacles. However it would have been a very foolhardy course to take for anyone aware of the presence of the rocks.
About 5.37 p.m. there was a thud and the ship started to list as the sea flooded through a 40 foot long gash in the hull, penetrating three water-tight bulkheads. The water short-circuited the electrical system, thereby stopping the engines. It is reputed that at 6.03 pm a Mayday call was broadcast, but this is disputed by local VHF operators. Presumably, because of language problems, no announcements were made to passengers to advise them of the position and tell them what to do, although many passengers were alerted to the problem by the fact that the crew were wearing life-jackets. In the meantime there was an announcement that dinner would be delayed an hour and the wine tasting session that was in progress would be extended. The band continued to play, but the wine tasting stopped when the list sent glasses sliding off the tables.
The L.P.G. Tanker Tarihiko turned towards the scene on receiving the Mayday call, but a signal that no further assistance would be required was received. Nevertheless Captain Reedman decided to press on. In gathering darkness the Tarihiko arrived as passengers were being evacuated into rafts and ship's boats from 8.45 p.m. Many elderly people were hurt in their leap from the ship to the lifeboats.
The Russian captain had endeavoured to beach his ship, but without the assistance of engines this manoeuvre was unsuccessful, and the ship, by now down at the bow and listing, floated towards Gannet Point in Port Gore. The sea was choppy but not rough and the Tarihiko was able to get her boats to the stricken ship. 356 passengers and 164 Russian crew crowded every inch of space in the LPG ships quarters, eventually to be deposited at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Wellington in the early hours of the following morning.
In the meantime the locals declared a Mayday situation and twenty-three Marlborough Sounds small craft had arrived and were patrolling the area in the gathering darkness. The Wellington to Picton vehicular ferry Arahura of 9,000 tons under the command of Captain Brew, had been diverted to the scene and arrived at 9.30 p.m. Many of the ship's passengers were transferred from rafts and boats to the ferry. HMNZS Taupo commanded by Lieutenant Batcheler, arrived in time to check out the area and arrange for the shoreline to be searched. It was dark and raining heavily and there was great difficulty in penetrating the darkness with the ship's search-lights. Nevertheless they struggled through the night, searching the area to locate lost people in the water, on rafts or in lifeboats that may have been swept away in the wind and with the tide.
The crippled liner took on a 12° list and drifted into Port Gore where Captain Vorobyev tried to beach his ship. At 10.15 pm she was listing 40° to starboard and at 10.27 pm she foundered in 15 fathoms, sinking by the bow and laying over on her port side by Gannet Point near to Mr. John Harvey's Port Gore property. One unfortunate 33 year old engineer crew member was presumed to have gone down with the ship.
The noise was deafening when the Mikhail Lermontov sank to the bottom of Port Gore, 35 miles from Picton. As the bow gradually sank down in the sea the stern rose higher. The bow hit the seabed, the stern settled and she rolled on her side beneath the surface. Bubbles more than six feet high belched from the sea, and anything loose on the ship shot to the surface, leapt into the air and then smacked down on the surface of the water. The haunting sounds reverberating from the bowels of the ship were never forgotten
Next Month: TBA
"Whats New" - January 2005
