18 Saved From Atlantic After Ship Loses Bow

NEW YORK —  Crew members abandoned a Greek cargo ship battered off Cape Cod, Mass., by Hurricane Bertha today. At least one seaman died and six were unaccounted for as other merchant ships rushed to help, the Coast Guard said.

Eighteen crew members were rescued from a lifeboat and a life raft after four or more hours in heavy seas. Three were in a lifeboat and one was still in the water this morning, Coast Guard Lt. (j.g.) Rodney Gadsden said.

Soviet, Hong Kong and Norwegian fishing and merchant ships joined in efforts to pluck the sailors from 10- to 15-foot seas. An Air Force communications plane was directing their efforts, and a Coast Guard ship was en route.

The 593-foot Greek-registered freighter Corazon, with a crew of 29, lost part of its bow and its midsection buckled, Coast Guard Petty Officer Lionel Bryant said. The ship was about 340 miles east-southeast of Cape Cod, he said.

Crew members abandoned ship at 4:20 a.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Anthony L. Whitehead said, and by midmorning the Corazon’s bow was submerged and its stern was standing clear of the water. “You can see the screw,” Whitehead said.

One crew member apparently fell into the water as the crew members boarded the lifeboat and life raft, Whitehead said. That seaman was pulled from the water by the Soviet trawler Vympel shortly after 7 a.m., but he was dead.