THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220592
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HYANNIS, MASS. LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
When fellow crewmen found Hipolito Elanga slumped over the radio room telex, he had been overcome by smoke from the fire burning below deck in the 900-foot coal ship.
But Elanga had apparently managed to send out a distress call before he collapsed at his post.
The 26-year-old from the Philippines was the only person to die in the blaze. It broke out aboard the Poly Doros on Sunday, the day after the ship left Norfolk for Italy. The ship had arrived 12 days earlier to load coal at Norfolk Southern's terminal at Lamberts Point.
The 29 other Philippine and Greek crewmen were rescued by the Coast Guard. Eight were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, but all were released by Monday.
``The radioman sent a telex to Sweden. Sweden then relayed the message to the Coast Guard in New York,'' said Petty Officer Amy Gaskill, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
The Coast Guard then sent two helicopters to carry 25 crew members from the Cypriot-flagged Poly Doros 220 miles to Hyannis. Four other crew members, including the captain, were taken aboard a Coast Guard cutter on Monday.
The cutter remained alongside the Poly Doros as Coast Guardsmen fought the fire for most of the daylight hours.
The Coast Guard said the fire was confined to the personnel quarters, far from the ship's cargo of about 109,000 tons of coal. There was little danger of the vessel sinking, Gaskill said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Two salvage vessels, the Hebron C from Halifax and the Cape Hatteras from Norfolk, were reported to be on route.
Packed into a Hyannis hotel room, the Filipino sailors said they were shaken but thankful to have been so close to American shores.
``If it happened somewhere in South America or Africa, the rescue would have been delayed,'' said 57-year-old Salvador Cofrero.
``All things were eaten by the fire,'' said Oscar Balacano, the ship's second officer.
The men were scheduled to leave by airplane for the Philippines today. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
The Cypriot-flagged Poly Doros, which caught fire Sunday, was adrift
Monday more than 200 miles off Nantucket Island, Mass., after the
Coast Guard rescued its 29 crewmen. The ship was bound for Italy.
KEYWORDS: FIRE SHIP by CNB