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39 PERISH WHEN OIL TANKERS COLLIDE AT SEA
From The Canberra Times Monday 23 April 1951
MOBILE (Alabama), Sunday.
Coastguard authorities have started an inquiry into a collision between two tankers in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday in which 17 persons
perished.
Another 22 are missing, presumed dead.
The tankers, which were engulfed in fire, were the Esso Greensboro and Esso Suez.
The fire blackened Esso Suez limped into port last night.
The Esso Greensboro was being towed to Galveston, Texas, by another tug.
The collision occurred in dense fog.
A lifeboat from another tanker Esso New York, picked up three survivors and two charred bodies from the water.
The fourth survivor was rescued from the poop deck of the Esso Greensboro.
The Esso Greensboro, carrying, 140 000 barrels of oil, became a floating inferno.
The chief mate of Esso Suez was killed and four of the crew were badly burned.
The collision ripped a 20 ft. hole in the bow of Esso Suez.
He said Esso Suez was a fire from stem to stern. There was a belt of fire 50 to 100 feet round the ship.
The Coastguard said it understood both ships had radar.
The collision occuired about 200 miles south of Morgan City, Louisiana, which is about halfway between New Orleans and Lake Charles.