The fire of 1970
The Australis had her closest call in the South Pacific, every seaman fears
it because it's so unpredictable, on 22nd. of October 1970, a fire broke out
in the kitchens quarters on the Australis whilst steaming northwards
to Panama and then onto Europe. As usual, she was heavily loaded with passengers.
"I received a message in Athens that the ship was burning and had to
be abandoned! "It was an accident that we had never faced before, but
I knew my destination at that moment, commented Mr. Kaparis. "After an
half hours meeting about the fire Mr. Chandris said "Demitri, you are
the youngest and strongest, so you must fly out immediately and meet the ship
in Fiji". She was sailing between Auckland and Fiji at the time, carrying
2,446 passengers and 586 crew. There were lots of children onboard. The fire
started at 3:30 in the afternoon, but the organisation of the crew was excellent,
totally efficient. It was also a great test of the solidity of the ship's
American construction.

Photos above are of the workers repairing the ship after the fire.

The
fire spread upwards from the galley through seven decks. Even the dance floor
in the ballroom
buckled. The blaze continued for nine and a half hours, from 3:30 that afternoon
until 1 in the morning. All passengers had to remain at their lifeboat stations.
It might have been a major disaster. Kaparis finally reached the ship at Suva
in Fiji, he immediately made a six hour examination of the damage. "I went
to the galley and stood in water and mud up to my chest", he added. "After
seeing the damage for myself, I phoned Mr. Chandris and told him that I can
repair the ship in the port of Fiji, provided all passengers and 80% of the
crew were disembarked for twelve days, and I felt confident that I could prepare
the ship again to sail in twelve days. I sent for 110 workers from the Britanis
and the Atlantis project in Greece and arranged for my office to be in the staff
captain's cabin. I ordered new steel and cable, Four chartered planes delivered
all sorts of parts. Parts were even sent from the Amerikanis in the Caribbean
in two containers. It was an extraordinary effort that took twelve days to complete.
We also used 350 Fijian workers as cleaners. We even had Fijian telephonists
onboard. It was, of course, all big local news. In all, we spent £500,000.
Amazingly, it was completed on time. The Australis sailed just six hours
late on the twelfth day! In all, the experience reinforced my admiration for
US-built ships" The Australis, ex-America had had a nasty
fright, but once more she had been rescued by one of her most dedicated admirers.
Read the Fijian newspaper article about the fire.
However,
the Australian run was finally hit, if far later than most other liner trades,
by the invasion of the jets. In November 1977, the Australis made the
last Chandris sailing from Southampton to Sydney and then went to a rather remote
anchorage at Timaru in New Zealand.
Rumours were that she could soon go to the
ever-hungry Taiwanese scrappers. She had sailed around the world some 62 times,
carrying over 300,000 people between 1965 and 1978. On May 18th. 1978, she was
sold to Venture Cruises of New York for six and a half million dollars, quite
a good deal, more or less the same price Chandris had paid for her some thirteen
years earlier. (see the history part two section
for more details on this episode). After
bad press reports for the "Cruises to nowhere" out of North America,
she was seized by loca Marshals and soon afterwards her owners closed their
offices and vanished. The then renamed "America" sat out the
summer moored at the old pier 92, the former Cunard Line terminal at the foot
of West 52nd. Street in Manhattan. In late August, she was sold at auction.
The buyers were Chandris, who had sold her in May for $5 million and now repurchased
her for a mere $1 million dollars. Supposedly, Chandris' representative Mr.
Kaparis barely outbid the Taiwanese scrap merchants. The America went
back to Greece, was partially restored (and lost her forward `dummy' funnel
in the process) and then reappeared, in April 1979, as the Chandris Lines' Italis.
She ran two-week Mediterranean cruises from Genoa and Barcelona. But, she was
out of work once again by the end of the year. In view of her age and high use
of fuel, she simply became too expensive. She went back to Perama Bay and was
laid-up.

Demitri Kaparis' story was told by Bill Miller and is taken from his book: "The Chandris Liners"
The story above is mostly the view of Mr. Demitri Kaparis, the Chandris Lines Tachnical Director.
I am indebted to Bill Miller for giving me permission to use some of his personal photos and information.
Regretfully I am "running down" the S. S. Australis website due to increasing family and health issues.
I may occasionally update the site if I receive a great story/photos
from ex-crew only, if it is a new contact.
I know there are still stories to share from ex-crew all over the world, who haven't yet been in touch.
I am deeply moved by the interest and wonderful contributions from numerous passengers and crew over many years.
A HUGE THANK YOU.
Warm regards.
Ken.
You can send messages to me on this e-mail address:
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