British Tanker Sinks in S. Pacific; All 29 Crew Escape
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A British tanker sank off Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific on Saturday, but all 29 crew members escaped into lifeboats, the New Zealand Press Assn. reported.
The report said the bulk chemical carrier Cumberland sank after taking on water through two holes but did not say where the holes were located or how the ship had been damaged.
Pitcairn was the refuge found by the mutineers of the British warship HMS Bounty in 1789. The small British dependency, which includes three other islands, is 2,540 miles east of Sydney, Australia.
The lifeboats were believed headed for uninhabited Henderson Island, about 100 miles northeast of the Pitcairn group.
The Australia Sea and Safety Center in Canberra said it first received a distress signal from the Cumberland on Friday morning.
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