Wreck of MV MALABAR
MV MALABAR, built by Barclay Curle & Co at Glasgow, was designed as a passenger cargo vessel for the Australia-Java-Singapore route. It was owned by Burns Philp & Co and was 350 feet long with a gross tonnage of 4,512 tons and had a top speed of 13.2 knots. MALABAR could accommodate 156 passengers and had five cargo holds, as well as insulated holds for fruit and frozen meat. It was the second motor vessel to service Australian waters and heralded the decline of the steamship.
MALABAR was launched in July 1925 and arrived in Sydney via Colombo and Singapore in December that same year. It had an uneventful service history prior to its wrecking; its only major incident was an unsuccessful attempt to tow the stranded steamer RIO CLARO off Scott Reef, southeast of Cairns, in September 1926. In 1929 Burns Philp & Co was awarded a contract by the Australian Government for a five-year mail service to the Pacific Islands. This required a new ship to be built for the Singapore route (MV ACDHUI). MALABAR was to be reassigned to the Sydney-Rabaul service commencing in May 1931.
On 31 March 1931, MALABAR undertook its 32nd trip and left Melbourne for Singapore under the command of Captain George Leslie. On the morning of 2 April the ship was nearing Sydney when it entered a thick fog and ran on to the rocks on the northern side of Long Bay, 14km to the south of Sydney due to a navigational error. The bow was high on the rocks and Captain Leslie ordered the engines to be run full speed astern, but this was insufficient to shift the ship. An evacuation was ordered, and all 109 crew and 28 passengers successfully left the ship within half an hour. Three stud horses being transported to Darwin were also swum ashore. At 10am, the trawler CHARLIE CAM attempted to tow MALABAR off the rocks, but the line gave way. The tug ST ARISTELL was readied but the weather and conditions rendered this attempt too dangerous, and MALABAR was abandoned.
News of the wreckage spread, and it is estimated 100,000-300,000 people (depending on sources) visited the area over the Easter long weekend. The wreck was sold for scrap for £140 on 7 April to the Penguin Salvage Co. However, due to heavy seas, it broke up and was unable to be salvaged.
