Evening star., 1961-01-24
CRUISE aes #I
:. Navy Vessels and Planes
IL ] rail Hiiocked Liner

SOefS -eAS SNNA0SA44ASAANSs NSS0N8e W o4N
slain and many crewmen were
wounded in the attack that
vttested control Of the Santa
Maria from her skipper, Capt
Mario Simoes Mai.
THE United States destroyers
Wilson and Damato and the
British frigates Rothesay and
Dieter steamed In pursuit, act
i'm under what o United States
Navy spokesman called 1.-THE
well-defined terms Of interna-
tional law governing piracy and
1nsllrrection aboard ship"
East Of Trinidad
With hijackers In control Of
the helm, the Santa Maria was
Eeported early this morning to
have passed through the st.
Lucia Channel, between Mar
Unique and st. Lucia, and sped
southwark toward q point 100
miles east Of Trinidad,
But. with q speed Of 30 knots,
she was long gone when the
speedy Rothesay reached that
general area. The Rothesay,
running low on oil, radioed that
she was heading to Trinidad for
refueling.
"A spokesman for the British
Admiralty said the band might
try to reach Brazil. Galvao has
lived there for several months
since his escape from hospital
guards In Lisbon in 1859 while
serving . l6-year sentence for
treason.
But some sources in the
Caribbean area believed it more
Likely that the ship would head
for Venez1ela, Surinam or
French Guiana. Axe
Fueled for 5000 Miles
: sThesvesseI had 1858 tons Of
Oh aboard. enough for 5000
miles. and food for 20 days
when the hijackers took over.
With the sun long up. the
gray, 20,906-ton liner Of the
CoEapannia Colonial de Nave.
gaeao seemed to have vanished.
NEGATIVE reports streamed in
from the hunters.
The United States destroyers
were under orders to visit and
search" the Santa Maria after
locating her and, IF an act Of
piracy has been committed, to
escort her to the nearest United
States port" A Navy spokes-
man said that could be either
Miami. Fla. one Of the liners
scheduled ports Of call. or San
Juan.
Official sources on st. Lucia,
where the Santa Maria landed
some Of the wounded crewmen
yesterday, said the battle for
the ship was touched off by
Capt. Mats rejection Of q de-
n1111d that be sad from Cnra.
Gao direct to Miami.
The hijackers were reported
tQvhave boarded the ship as
passengers at La Guaira, vene-
Zuela, and at Curacao, q Dutch
island off the Venezuela coast.
Vessel Moves Fast
, AL nonmiIitary aircraft IN
the busy lanes over the Carib.
bean were asked to be on the
lookout for the Santa Maria.
:"But 1t may take some time
before she Is found" said o
Navy spokesman, Charles
Rainey. "At the speed she was
moving she may have gone 500
miles In any direction"
BY dovetailing reports reach
ing San Juan, London. WASH
ington, Lisbon and Ottawa, this
picture Of the liners capture
emerged:
The Santa Maria called Sum
day as scheduled at La Guaira
and Curacao. According to
Portuguese authorities she re-
ceived aboard several hundred
passengers, including about
10 persons who planned to
commit a preposterous crime. -
F.. Early yesterday morning
while the passengers slept and
only q few crew members kept
watch and ran the ship-the
intruders with smuggled weap-
ons turned UP on the bridge,
In the engine room and at the
lookouts' posts and took COM
ynand.
The third officer, Joao Jose
do Nascimento Costa, was killed
attempting to resist the seizure.
Among the crew members
wounded were Cadet Officer
Joao Antonio Lopes de Souza
and DR.. Cicero Campos Leite,
the ships physician.
Wounded Put Ashore
Subsequently the Santa
Maria hove to off the island
OF st. Lucia and sent ashore
about six wounded men. in
Gliding two officers. Much OF
the information concerning
what had happened aboard the
1iaer came from these men.
The shipboard gunplay came
III Faters where ships Of Black
beard edward Teach) and
Capt. John (Long Benz Avery
once carried on their piracy
under the skull and crossbones.
A radio message heard In
Curacao early today said an
unidentified Swedish ship had
sighted the Santa Maria 10C
miles east Of Trinidad.
(The RCA radio station at
Chatham, Mass. said that at
2:30 am. 1t received q message
In Portuguese addressed ITO all
newspapers" saying: "All is
normal aboard. We viii in
form the world in due time"
RCA said the message was
signed Capt. Henrique Gal
vao." There was no indication
Of the location Of the ship or
~ Ga1va n,a y1la nal 90