Mikhail Lermontov (ship)

Mikhail Lermontov (ship)

MS "Mikhail Lermontov" was an ocean liner owned by the Soviet Union's Baltic Shipping Company, built in 1972 by V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany. She was later converted into a cruise ship. On February 16, 1986 she ran aground on rocks near Port Gore in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, and sank, resulting in the death of one crew member.

The "Mikhail Lermontov"

The "Mikhail Lermontov", launched in 1972, was the last of the five "poet" ships: "Ivan Franko", "Taras Shevchenko", "Alexandr Pushkin" (now "Marco Polo"), "Shota Rustaveli" and "Mikhail Lermontov", named after famous Ukrainian and Russian writers (Ivan Franko and Taras Shevchenko being Ukrainian), built to the same design at V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany. Mikhail Lermontov, born 1814 and died 1841, was known as the "poet of Caucasus."

The crew were Russian, and a detachment of KGB agents was placed on boardFact|date=April 2007. Initially, these agents shadowed the crew constantly, ensuring that there were no defections, and to prevent "excessive fraternisation with foreigners". By the 1980s the atmosphere had grown more relaxed and the KGB no longer carried out such intense surveillance, though it is probable that the crew's cabins were still bugged.Fact|date=December 2007

The "Mikhail Lermontov" was originally used as an ocean liner on the LeningradNew York run. [ [http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/ships/or_marco.asp Cruisepage.com ship profiles: Marco Polo] , retrieved 22. 11. 2007] However, the Soviet government realised that there was more money to be made by converting her to a cruise ship, and the accommodation and facilities on board were significantly improved during the 1970s.Fact|date=December 2007

tart of the "Mikhail Lermontov"'s last voyage

On February 16 1986, the "Mikhail Lermontov" was cruising in New Zealand for the CTC cruise company. On that day she left Picton for the Marlborough Sounds, carrying mostly elderly Australian passengers. The harbour master of Picton, Don Jamison, conned the ship out of Picton. His presence, and his knowledge of the area, should have assured the safety of the "Mikhail Lermontov".

However, Jamison believed that the passage at Cape Jackson was nearly twice as wide as it actually was, and that there were no dangerous rocks or reefs in the passage. Operating without a chart, Jamison proceeded towards Cape Jackson.

Hugging the shoreline to give the Australian passengers a good view of the area, Jamison continued towards the cape. About one mile from the cape, Jamison made the decision to take the "Mikhail Lermontov" through the passage. A Russian officer tried to discourage Jamison, but the harbour master assured him it would be fine.

Disaster

At 5.37 pm, travelling at 15 knots, the "Mikhail Lermontov" struck rocks about 5.5 m below the waterline on her port side. Water poured up into the decks, and the seriously damaged ship limped towards Port Gore. Jamison hoped he could beach the ship to stop it floating out to sea.

Jamison beached the "Mikhail Lermontov" successfully, but lowering the anchors to keep her there was impossible as the electricity in the ship had failed. As a result, the ship drifted into deeper waters. Water-tight doors were broken open by the pressure of the sea water gushing into the ship. The "Mikhail Lermontov" was doomed.

As was common in the Soviet Union, the top priority in catastrophes was avoiding negative publicity, even at the cost of human life, hence no distress signal was sent to the local authorities, and rescue ships, seeing that the "Mikhail Lermontov" was in trouble, were gruffly told that their assistance was not required. Luckily for the passengers, the rescue ships knew that their assistance "was" required, and stood by to evacuate the passengers.

By 8.30 pm, many passengers were being loaded on to these rescue ships of their own accord, but the Russian crew refused to disembark. The passengers were put onto an LPG tanker that was in the area, the MV|Tarihiko.

As darkness set in, Wellington Radio ordered all passengers to disembark as the "Mikhail Lermontov" listed further to starboard. Within 20 minutes of the last passenger being rescued, the ship had disappeared completely. Crew member Pavel Zagladimov died, while 11 of those rescued had minor injuries.

The Ship on the bottom of the sea

The "Mikhail Lermontov" rests where she sank, lying on her starboard side at depths ranging from 25 to 30 m in dark, murky water. Popular with SCUBA divers, the site is served by local dive shops in Picton and Kaikoura. It is possible to swim inside the ship, although care must be taken and guides familiar with the wreck are recommended. Three divers are known to have died while exploring the ship, including one diver whose body is still possibly trapped inside. [cite web |url=http://www.benthic.ca/report.cfm?report=24 |title=Vodka on the Rocks - Part 3 |accessdate=2007-12-14 |author=Kevin Dekker |format= |work=Benthic Canada ]

References

External links

* [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/kids/nzdisasters/MikhailLermontov.asp New Zealand Disasters - Shipwreck: Mikhail Lermontov]
* [http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/lermontov.htm The Last Cruise of the Mikhail Lermontov] at NZ Maritime Record


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mikhail Lermontov — Lermontov redirects here. For other uses, see Lermontov (disambiguation). For the ocean liner which sank in New Zealand in 1986, see MS Mikhail Lermontov. Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Lermontov in 1837 Born …   Wikipedia

  • MS Mikhail Lermontov — Mikhail Lermontov at Tilbury in 1983 Career Name …   Wikipedia

  • List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history …   Wikipedia

  • Russia — /rush euh/, n. 1. Also called Russian Empire. Russian, Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Cap.: St. Petersburg (1703 1917). 2. See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 3. See Russian… …   Universalium

  • Rodina (Projekt 588) — Typ Rodina/Projekt 588/BiFa Typ A Die Dmitri Pozharskiy des Typs Rodina/Projekt 588/BiFa Typ A …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of Russian language novelists — Russian Writers by Sergei Levitsky, 1856. This is a list of authors who have written works of fiction in the Russian language. The list encompasses novelists and writers of short fiction. For the plain text list, see Category:Russian novelists.… …   Wikipedia

  • USS West Bridge (ID-2888) — was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I. She was begun as SS War Topaz but was completed as SS West Bridge , though she was referred to in some publications under the spelling Westbridge . After she was decommissioned from… …   Wikipedia

  • Lord Byron — For other holders of the title, see Baron Byron. For other uses, see Byron (disambiguation), Lord Byron (disambiguation) and George Byron (disambiguation). The Right Honourable The Lord Byron FRS Portrait of Lord Byron by Thomas Phillips …   Wikipedia

  • Russian culture — Saint Basil s Cathedral on the Red Square, Moscow …   Wikipedia

  • Родина (тип речных судов) — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Родина (значения). Теплоходы типа «Родина», проект 588, серия I / серия II BiFa Typ A, Binnenfahrgastschiff ( речной пассажирский теплоход, тип А ) …   Википедия

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”