Evening star., 1961-02-06
Collision Sinks Donish Cargo Ship;
4 Americans, 43 Crewmen Rescued

Feb. 8 (AP).-Two cargo ships
'-one American and the other
Danish-collided last night,
sending the Danish vessel to
the bottom Of Tokyo Bay.
r An extensive search was
under way for five crewmen
missing from the Danish ship,
the Laustn Maersk. Forty-three
other crewmen and four Amer
ican passengers were rescued.
Thirteen Of those picked up
from the icy waters Of the bay
were reported injured. 'A
The American ship, the 6,759-
ton Alcoa Pioneer, was dam
aged in the bow but steamed
into the port Of Yokohama
under her own power. None Of
the 43-crew, members aboard
the American ship was reported
injured.
The American passengers
aboard the LauSt MaerSk we're
identified by the United States
consulate here as Mr.. and Mrs.
Victor Charles Andrews Of La
guna Beach, Calf, and Mr..
and Mrs. John Weld Of the
Dana Strand Club, Dana Point,
Calf. near Laguna Beach.
Resting In Hospital
They were taken to Yoko-
hama's Yamate Hospital. Hos
pital authorities said they were
resting. and refused to let
newsmen talk with them i'm
mediately. The consulate said
the Americans were not in seri-
ous condition. .
Mr.. Weld, about so, q one
time Paris correspondent and
in the sos q Hollywood movie
Stuntman. is co-publiSher Of the
weekly Laguna Beach Post.
His co-publiSher, Bernard
CBuO Desenbergs said Mr..
Weld and his wife Katherine,
q former movie actress. left Los
Angeles harbor about two weeks
ago on q 'round-the-world trip
on which Weld planned to
make q movie Of their voyage. |
The Weld and Andrews
couples, old friends, were
travelling together. Mr.. Andrews
owns citrus acreages In the
Bakersfield (Calif.) area and Isl
president Of South Coast Com
munity Hospital. Laguna Beach,
Mr.. Desenberg said.
An official Of the Maersk
Line in Tokyo refused to iden.
tify the crew members missing |
or those rescued.
One Body Found
A spokesman for the Japa-
neSe Maritime Safety Agency
said q body believed to be that
Of q crewman from the Laust
Maersk was found aboard the
American ship. /
"A waiter aboard the Danish
ship, j. w. Remegios, 90. told
neWsmen the collision was like
an earthquake. - .
81 was serving In the dining
room when ] heard o whistle. y
he said. Minutes later all the
lights went out. The saloon
started to shake. Everybody
tried to get out and I heard
people screaming. TheR the
ship began to 60 down. J tried
to Jump into q nfeboat but it
turned over. -
Then I saw Q raft some 20
feet away. I was assisting the
chief engineer who was injured.
Quite afew people were already
on the raft. We shouted and
shouted for help.
"Thes chief engineer blew Q
whistle all Of Q sudden and then
we saw o flare Of light ap-
preaching us. A ship finally
came to rescue us. 1t took about
1a hours before we were
saved >
Weather "CIear"
The weather at the time Of
collision-6:50 p.m.-was clear
and calm.
The Alcoa Pioneer was bound
from Yokohama for Europe via
Kobe and Korea with q cargo
Of 6,469 bales Of cotton. She
also carried seed and corn meal.
The Danish ship was entering
Tokyo Bay from the United
States.
The Alcoa, under charter to
the States Marine Line, sus-
tanned water leakage in her No. I
! hold from the collision.
Patrol boats searching the
9rea reported they had found
only oil SlickS at the collision
point about two miles northeast
6f Kanno Cape, 10 miles south
Of Yokohama.
An officer Of the Laust
Maersk said the ship went
down within 20 minutes after
the collision. .--
The crewmen and passengers
aboard the Danish vessel were
said to have jumped from the
ship into the water.