As usual, she was heavily loaded with passengers. It was an accident that we had never faced before, but I knew my destination at that moment, commented Mr. Kaparis. She was sailing between Auckland and Fiji at the time, carrying 2,446 passengers and 586 crew. There were lots of children onboard. It was also a great test of the solidity of the ship's American construction.
Photos above are of the workers repairing the ship after the fire.
The fire spread upwards from the galley through seven decks. Even the dance floor in the ballroo m buckled. All passengers had to remain at their lifeboat stations. It might have been a major disaster. Kaparis finally reached the ship at Suva in Fiji, he immediately made a six hour examination of the damage.