A wall of water sealed the fate o
MERCHANT NAVY SEAMAN MISSED TWO FAMILY WEDDINGS WHILE HE WAS STUCK ON A REEF FOR A FORTNIGHT ....
Yesterday, we began the story of Matthew Duncan who will never forget his time in the Merchant Navy. After all, it’s not every day that your ship gets grounded on a giant reef for days on end. But that’s what happened to Sunderland man Matthew and the crew of the Lake Burnaby in 1958. Chris Cordner reports in the final part of this story.
After two weeks of being stuck on a reef, the men were overjoyed when help came. But it was a close run thing when the rescue tugs arrived in the nick of time. “If they had not come back from Manila ... well, I don’t think about it,” said Matthew. Their return was timely. “We got a storm warning and told to abandon ship.” It was time to leave their floating home and as the men watched from the tugs, the Lake Burnaby was hit by a 40ft wall of water. “There were 40 of us on that tug. One sailor said ‘she is going’ and there was a big wave which lifted the stern right up, and she was gone. “We were looking at this wall of water and the next minute, we were in a trough.” The men tied themselves together for extra safety in the storm and Matthew said: “I was standing with a man from South Shields. I blacked out and when I came round, the ship had gone.” The crew was taken to Puerto Princesa and safety was theirs. “People ask me what it was like to experience something like that. Life just went on and you don’t think about what might be. But it was amazing and noone understands that.” After his Merchant Navy career was over, he worked at Hendon gasworks and in a printers on the press for 30 years before retiring in 2001