THE Lakemba sounded 21 blasts from her whistle as left Suva Harbour on Wednesday October 4, 1967.
She had been sailing as a passenger and cargo ship for 21 years between Australia, Fiji, Hawaii and Canada.
That was a day before she struck the Cakaulekaleka Reef near Vatulele about 72 kilometres south-west of Suva and ran aground.
The Lakemba stranded on the 1.6 kilometre diameter reef which was about 13 kilometres due east of the southern tip of Vatulele.
The ship had sailed many voyages but it was on that day that she could not judge the Cakaulekaleka Reef around 11pm on October 4, 1967.
The 62 passengers and 57 crew endured the night before being rescued by CS Retriever, a cable ship which was berthed in Suva.
There were Canadian, American and Australian tourists on board and all were saved.
David Howard who was in his mid-20s was stationed as an engineer aboard the CS Retriever. Howard worked for Cable and Wireless from early 1964 until late 1968, serving on CS Mercury, CS Retriever and CS Cable Enterprise.
“Retriever in those days spent most of her time in Suva Harbour — either tied up alongside or swinging round the hook. We very rarely had anything to do, apart from routine ship’s maintenance (and drinking a lot of beer), so the call for help was a welcome change to do something useful. It wasn’t very far for us to go,” Mr Howards wrote of his experience.
The Lakemba was a 7459-tonne ship built in Canada in 1945 as a cargo ship. In 1947, the SS Lakemba was acquired by Pacific Shipowners Limited in Suva (W R Carpenter Limited in Sydney, Australia).
The 134.7-metre long ship was refitted with accommodation for 98 passengers and placed on the Vancouver, Honolulu, Suva, Sydney run.
And now it was on the Cakaulekaleka Reef.
Mr Howard said a few days after the rescue, the Lakemba slipped off the reef and commended the captain of the Lakemba, Captian John Ward for ensuring a safe rescue.
“The drama began early yesterday morning. The Mt Victoria shipping signals station reported picking up messages from the Lakemba saying she had hit the reef and needed assistance. The Retriever, based at Suva, was unable to get her crew together for some time and did not set out until about 7 a.m,” Mr Howard wrote.
“It’s fortunate that the Lakemba’s captain had the presence of mind to keep the engines going ahead after she struck the reef, otherwise she would have slipped off and sunk quite quickly — possibly with loss of life.
“The reefs off Suva Harbour were at the time a magnet for small Korean fishing boats and they quite often would drive on to the fringing reef during the night.
“Our morning scans of the horizon might see one or two high and dry, waiting for help. Usually they would float off with the tide but some had to dragged off by a tug. It’s amazing how far onto the reef they would be from deep water.”
Chris Brien was six years old and on board the Lakemba when it struck the reef. Mr Brien remembers the crew of the Lakemba clearing the cargo after running aground on the reef.
“I was a boy of six on the Lakemba when it ran aground. I have very vivid memories of the time on board and of our rescue.
“One of the two cars that were lost was our Volkswagen beetle. The morning after we ran aground I remember the crew pushing both cars over the side.
“Ours and a big Cadillac type car. The owner of the big car was very upset as all his belongings were in it. There was a big argument between him and the crew. I am sure he was the guy that arrived in Sydney with nothing but his passport and documents.”
On October 6, 1967, The Fiji Times ran the story of Lakemba running aground. On October 7, 1967, the newspaper had pictures of the ship aground on Cakaulekaleka Reef.
Mr Brien was also pictured holding a large sombrero (Mexican hat) with his brother and parents.
“My mother still has the page of your paper with us disembarking from the Retriever. I am wearing a big sombrero,” Mr Brien said.
“I can remember my mother putting life jackets on my brother and I and all the passengers gathering in the lounge so the captain could address us.”
The Lakemba was carrying 2100 tonnes of cargo and 1100 tonnes of Canadian Oregon timber. This timber broke up and much washed off to nearby Vatulele and Beqa. Some can be found as parts of houses on these islands.
The CS Retriever was not the first boat to reach the Lakemba. Graham Wallace from Korolevu in Nadroga took on 32 men on board his private launch Sere-ni-Wai and took them to Korolevu.
Mr Wallace had told the newspaper that when he left the Lakemba, her stern was pounding heavily on the surge.
On October 7, the ship Ai Sokula went to Lakemba to retrieve the baggage of the passengers and this was successfully done in four hours by the 40-men on board the ship.
She was listing even more than the previous day.
Eventually, the Lakemba slipped off the reef.
An inquiry followed as the Fiji Marine Department looked into how a ship with modern navigational aid could run aground on a well-known reef five miles off her course in fair weather.
Captain Ward and his men stayed back to answer question after the rescued passengers were flown to Australia in a chartered flight.
On October 9, the sugar ship Riverton reported that the Lakemba had vanished.
It was believed to have been driven off the reef by the wind whipped sea to 600 fathoms.
The Lakemba now lies at the bottom of the sea in the trenches next to the Cakaulekaleka Reef but to the many, who had sailed on many voyages through Fiji, it was an experience they would never forget.
Survivors and those who had taken voyages in the Lakemba can be online as they reminisce their time on the Lakemba, the cargo boat which carried passengers.