The World - News from Feb. 18, 1986
Prime Minister David Lange of New Zealand launched an inquiry into the grounding of the Soviet cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, which struck a visible reef and sank in New Zealand’s Cook Strait with the confirmed loss of one Soviet seaman. Passengers who abandoned the liner said they could see waves breaking over the reef minutes before the accident. The captain of the ship, which carried 739 passengers and crew, told Moscow’s evening television news that a New Zealand pilot chose the course that caused the accident.
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