Evening star., 1960-12-24
Seanlen Reach
Homes After
Tanker Ordeal.

! Tanker Ordeal.
NORFOLK. Va. Dec. "a CAP).
l-Twenty-eight surviving crew.
men from the storm-wrecked
tanker Pine Ridge were at home
with their families today or on
their way.
Only Chief Engineer John
Richart, the 29th survivor,
faced a ot-so-merry Christmas
as he remained aboard the
stern section Of the broken ves-
sci at sea.
Seven Of the Pine Ridges
crew were lost when the ship
broke in two Wednesday in
heavy seas 100 miles east of
Cape HatteraS. The other
crewmen-except Mr.. Richart-
arrived here yesterday aboard
o destroyer.
Tow Under Way
On the stern section with
Mr.. Richart were four crew
men from the commercial tug
Curb. which Is towing the
stern to Newport News, Va.
Another tug, the Lamberts
Point. and the Coast Guard
cutter Cherokee remained
alongside. The towing Job is
expected to take about 48 hours.
The Coast Guard today
placed the location Of the hulk
and the tugs at $50 miles
southeast Of the Virginia Capes,
making about 4 knots. It es-
timated the vessels will arrive
inside the Capes about 4 pm.
tomorrow.
The Coast Guard said 1t
knows Of no special provisions
being put aboard the stem
section to- help the five men
celebrate Christmas. But the
Pine Ridges galley Is part Of
what's left of the ship, and
there should be plenty Of food
aboard.
Mr. Richart, 80. of Whining
ton, Del, by sticking to his ship,
is protecting the salvage rights
Of the owners. Paco Tankers,
Inc. and the Keystone Ship
ping Co. Of Philadelphia. A
vessel abandoned on the high
seas becomes the prize Of the
first to board her.
Some Of the surviving sea-
men have made some bitter
comments concerning the Pine
Ridges seaworthiness.
Called UnseawOrthy
James C. Lewis Of Winston
Salem. N. c., and I. H. Hulsey,
Of Corpus Christi. Tex. applied
such terms as trust bucket" and
"unseaworthy" to the tanker
Robert Gil Of Monterey, Mexi-
CO. said the Pine Ridge had
cracked her port side on q pre-
viouS voyage and had been
patched UP with concrete.
Shipping company spokes-
men were not Immediately
available for comment.
A formal inquiry, beginning
in Norfolk next Wednesday. will
establish whether the wreck
was due to any fault Of the ship
At Wilmington. Del. yester-
day q United States District
Court ruled that claims against
the owners Of the Pine Ridge
must be filed by April "a.
The ruling was made after
the tanker owners petitioned
the court to exonerate them
from liability or to limit their
liability to $22S. 900. This Is the
value the owners place on the
still floating stern. The court
did not rule on this request.
The stern contains the engine
and other machinery as well
as quarters for the majority of
the crew.
The 28 crewmen who set foot
on shore yesterday were cheered
on their way home by quick
payment of wages due from
their ship company.
No Panic
But eager as they were to
get going, some paused to re.
count their experiences as the
ship broke up under them.
There was general agreement
that no panic ensued, but q
number readily admitted they
were quite nervous until 1t be-
came apparent the stern Sec
tion was going to stay afloat.
ut wasn't until about five
hours later that I decided I
was sure to see land again, 4"
said Ebert Freeman Of Eagle
Springs, N. c.
II sure was glad to see that
holirOY1for mt In AR ain