Not only was she re-assembled but certain,unspecified amendments were made, these being for the illicit carriage of contraband.e.g. In the fore tabernacle a false bulkhead of sorts was constructed and a section of the fore mast cut away, this was an aperture of some 3ft by 2ft(going on memory) with chamfered edges so that removing this plate would not mean that the plate would fall in. Brass flush head screws were used to secure same plate onto the parent mast. Chinese chippie then made a circular folding (hinged) grating which fitted neatly filling up the internal diameter of the foremast. The whole of the foremast house was the cassabs store and as is normal when dishing out paint and brushes to the crew he would give the part of the mast a goodly lick of paint thus very effectively covering up the removable plate.This work could only have been performed whilst "Sangola" was being remade,as it were.

I was 3/O on deck duty one night in Chittagong in the summer of 55 when all hell broke loose and the police swarmed aboard in mega style. All of our crew, deck and ER, were from East Pakistan as it was then called and they proceeded smartly to the foremast deck housing or cassabs store and started tapping on the mast.

Scrapers were used and sure enough the seams of the removable plate were soon located. I had a camera and took photos, but was forced to hand them over to the authorities. Ship was nearly impounded when they found a considerable quantity of hashish stored into the mast. We were destined for Calcutta anyway and as far as I can recall were only allowed to proceed after very lengthy delays, even involving proceeding down the Karnaphuli and being recalled to Chittagong.

Apparently someone had"snitched",presumably not getting his share otherwise I very much doubt if the hiding place would ever have been found. I seem to remember that at least one death resulted, no doubt as the result of the local Mafia getting their revenge.

This was nearly 50 years ago but I'm pretty confident that my memory of the events is accurate. Ask me what I was doing yesterday or last week and I'm not so confident

Ronald Thomas

......On the BI List - November 2004.