Fairsky June 20, 1977, struck a submerged wreck outside Djakarta

ssMaritime.com & ssMaritime.net

With Reuben Goossens

Maritime Historian

The Sitmar Ships

Fairsky

The Djakarta Incident June 1977

Pamela Joyce fondly remembers her “ill-fated” honeymoon cruise

SS Fairsky – (author’s collection)

Pamela Joyce Hansen kindly wrote us regarding her and her husband’s experience whilst on a cruise when the SS Fairsky struck a sunken wreck just out of Djakarta in 1977.

She wrote:

“Our cruise departed Darwin on June 12, 1977. I was 20 at the time and on my honey-moon. Although my passport was still under my maiden name (Hansen) and so was my booking, but on ship we went by my married name Mr & Mrs. Garry Morris, which confused things when we had to disembark and head off to Djakarta.

Pamela, be assured your next cabin on Pacific Dawn will be very different to the one on Fairsky!!!

We had an outside cabin, but the toilets and showers were down the corridor. In those days there were no double beds, thus being newly married we would put the two single mattresses on the floor and sleep there. The single bed being too small for two! But, we thoroughly enjoyed our honeymoon cruise for this was a delightful ship in every sense of the word!

Few cabins on Fairsky had private facilities. A wash basin and the rest down the hall

Crossing the Equator Ceremony on June 17

All passengers receive a certificate a close up of the date is seen below

However, not long after departing Djakarta on June 23 Fairsky we heard a loud bang or scraping of sorts and it turned out that the Fairsky had struck a sunken wreck. We were told that her bow had been badly damaged as it turned out later she had indeed been holed. The announcement came that we were not allowed to return to our cabins, but had to remain on deck until further notice. In the meantime the captain decided that he would beach her on a nearby sandbank to save her from sinking and to ensure our safety.

Before we left the ship our steward kindly gave us his two Sirmar Cruises lapel pins

We were then told on a deck by deck basis to go and get our things from our cabins and bring them up on deck. Our baggage area was the swimming pool.

Our baggage had to be stacked around the pool

Lifeboats were soon made ready for launching

Even though her bow was low in the water and she was listing, to me she looked sad, but still impressive!

We are now slowly heading towards show and others are disembarking

This photo clearly shows the other lifeboats being lowered

In addition to the ships lifeboats, shore tenders were also used to ferry passengers back to shore

My Indonesian visa stamp in my Passport

I was allowed to leave the ship before my husband, I waited back on land for him to come and about 3 hrs later Garry turned up. We were taken to a lovely hotel, and Sitmar Lines paid for every thing, meals etc. As you can imagine I was only 20 and I was worried that my parents back in Darwin would be worried when they hear the news. So I tried calling them, not an easy feat as most people in Djakarta did not speak English. I was also spoken to by a Sydney radio station and I spoke to them about the “accident.”

Sitmar arranged for day trips for us to go on, and after several days we had permission to leave. We flew back by Jumbo jet to Darwin; I recall that entertainer Alistair was also on the plane with us.

I look back on the whole adventure with fond memories, part one of the cruise was just wonderful, the evacuation went smoothly, and the way Sitmar handled the whole situation in Djakarta was superb!

Pamela Hansen is seen here 30 years later and ready for her next cruise adventure!

Now, 30 years later Pamela is due to take her next cruise on P&O’s Pacific Dawn December 27, 2007, and it will be her first cruise since her Fairsky experience. Better still, and I hope Pamela will not mind me saying this, but she will be celebrating her 50th Birthday on January 1, 2008 whilst the ship is at Champagne Bay Vanuatu! So if you are a passenger on that cruise, make sure you wish this wonderful and obviously a beautiful lady, a very Happy Birthday!

THANK YOU: The story above was provided by M/s. Pamela Joyce Hansen, although it has been edited and some changes were made for clarification. All images (except the introduction photo of the Fairsky) were taken by Pamela, or her then husband Garry, and are used by ssMaritime with permission. We are grateful to Pamela Joyce Hansen for sharing her adventure with us and we hope that her next cruise will also be memorable, however, for very different reasons!

PS: What happened to the Fairsky after she was placed on a sandbank? The hole in her hull was filled with concrete and on the 29th.she was refloated able to proceed under her own power to a Singapore dry-dock to investigate the damage. Although a temporary patch was placed over the hole, Sitmar decided not to repair her and they placed her on the market. She was bought by Fuiji Marden & Co and on December 11, 1977, she departed Singapore to be broken up in Hong Kong. Again Fairsky was able to sail under her own power, however, this proved to be her final voyage under her own steam.

Upon her arrival, Fairsky was laid up awaiting demolition; but just before breaking up was due to commence, she was purchased by the Filipino firm of “Peninsula Tourist Shipping Corp” in March 1978, and she was renamed the “Philippine Tourist.” The vessel was transferred under tow to the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering yards of Manila, where she would be converted into a floating hotel and casino based in Manila. However her venture was short lived and doomed, for on November 4, 1979, with her almost having been completed, she caught fire and was totally gutted. The wreck was sold back to the Hong Kong breakers, who renamed her “Fair Sky” for the tow back to Hong Kong, and she arrived on May 24, 1979, and was broken up by the same company who was going to break her up some two years earlier.

INDEX - The Early Sitmar Ships

Part One - Castel Bianco & Castel Verde

Part Two - Castel Felice

Part Three - Fairsky (1)

Part Four - Fairsea (1)

Fairsea Photo Page

Castle Bianco - The Karlsson family’s voyage

Castel Felice – Cabin Plan & the Robert Brinkhuis story 1965

Castel Felice – My 1957 voyage to Canada by W. D. Hempel

Castel Felice – The Williams family sail to Australia in 1957

Fairsky – Deck Plan

Fairsky – Piet Mulder sails on SS Fairsky

Fairsky – Fairsky hits a wreck out of Djakarta – The Pamela Joyce Hansen story

Other Sitmar Ships

Fairstar ex Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Fair Princess - ex (P&O & Princess Cruise ship), Sitmar Fairland, Fairsea, Cunard Line Carinthia

China Sea Discovery ex Fair Princess - broken up

Pacific Sky ex Princess Cruises Sky Princess, Sitmar Fairsky (2) – currently Pullmantur Cruises Sky Wonder (online soon)

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