On the 41st anniversary of the sinking of the ship "Masada"

A memorial to the victims of the "Masada" shipwreck disaster, 41 years without them.

On Tuesday (8/3/21) a sad and moving ceremony took place, the annual memorial was held at the Sailors' Garden in Haifa with the participation of the families and those who cherish the memory of the crew members who died in the tragic event.

Among the speakers at the memorial service Eli Glickman - CEO of "Zim" company, Nir breaks - a representative of the Haifa City Council, and the rabbi automatic, which accompanies the memorial ceremonies and the families since the day of the disaster. Rabbi Utmazgin made an emotional appeal to the families of those who perished and asked them to do everything they could in order to grow and emerge stronger from the difficult crisis.

Ronit, Danny וtree Pleasant with the songs "Million Stars" and "The Song of Virtues". Serous era, son of Yishai Sarosi The deceased, read the words of the song "The sand will remember". Morjan Darosha, granddaughter of Rajab Ali Idris The late, read the words of the song "Guarded Windows". Hagit, the niece of Yishai Sarosi The late, read the words of the song "The flower in my garden". Yona Levin, The daughter of the captain of "Mseda", Gra Levin, tearfully shared with those present what happened to the family following the tragedy, and her brother, Gili Levin, Kaddish said. She moderated the exciting ceremony this year as well poetry, who spoke on behalf of the families.

The captain of the ship "Masada", the late Gra Levin

the captain of the ship "Masada", Gra Levin The deceased, born in Haifa, graduated from the 9th class of the School of Naval Officers still in his first place of residence in Haifa, before moving to Acre. Gera's only brother, Nathan The late, Killed in battles in the Tiberias region during the War of Liberation. 

"Father was a special man," she tells me Pigeon, daughter of Gra Levin. "He was an educated man and apart from Hebrew and English, he also knew Yiddish and Arabic. He was a handsome man with an impressive complexion, who used to smoke a pipe. When I was a ten-month-old baby, I joined my father's sailing for the first time, of course with my mother. Since then, Gilly and I We sailed with dad a lot, we breathed the sea from a young age.

Every summer, we gathered our bunch of cats, dogs and parrots and went on cruises with Dad. Our arrival at various ports in the world earned us various brands, such as Kit Kat chocolate, Levi's jeans and others, long before entering the country. All in all we had a happy childhood.

The sea was my father's whole world, he sailed a lot and was absent for periods. During the times he was here, he used to look towards the Haifa Bay every day from our window in the house in Neve Shaanan and watch through the binoculars the movement of the incoming and outgoing ships."

A fateful phone call

They called me and informed me that there was a storm and that the "Masada" was in distress, remembers with sadness Esther, Gra Levin's widow. "Indeed, I was told that Gra was saved with the help of the lifeboat, but I had a bad feeling and I remember saying: "It can't be".

On Friday, two days before, we spoke on the phone. I knew there was a storm at sea and I asked him what the weather was like. On Sunday I went with a friend to the Turkish market to eat borax but I was not in the mood and did not eat at all. I had a bad feeling in my stomach, which unfortunately came true."    

"Chief Mechanic, Prano Higoslavi and father were the last ones left on board," she continues Pigeon. "Later, Frano told us that when a helicopter arrived to rescue them, for a few seconds there was an argument between them, because father refused to board the helicopter and evacuate the scene. He very courageously fulfilled what he used to tell us: "A captain always stays with his ship". 

"Masada", her last voyage

The bulk carrier "Medda" built in shipyards in Germany, was launched in 1960 and handed over to the "Zim" company as part of the reparations agreement with Germany. The ship, whose construction was done under the strict supervision of the Lloyd's Register, was approved for the transport of ore and sailed regularly on the Israel-United States route while transporting goods between Israel and Europe and between North America and Europe. In 1965, Masada was extended in a Japanese shipyard, in order to increase her capacity. 

At the beginning of February 1981, "Masada" arrived from the United States at the port of Haifa, unloaded a cargo of nuclei for the Dagon silos and proceeded to the port of Ashdod for the purpose of loading potash for export to the United States. In mid-February, the ship loaded more than 30,000 tons of potash from the Dead Sea plants, the caps were sealed, and after being stocked with fuel and drinking water, she sailed under the command of Captain Gera Levin on her way to Baltimore, with 34 crew members on board and another passenger, the wife of the wireless officer.

The drowning disaster, March 8, 1981

Throughout its journey, the ship faced difficult sea conditions. On March 8 in the morning, after six stormy days and a particularly stormy night, the ship "Medada" sank, 96 miles southeast of the island of Bermuda. A short time before, following water intrusion into the ship's stores, an order to abandon was given. 24 of the crew members, including the captain, perished in the disaster. The lives of 10 crew members and a passenger, the wireless officer's wife, were saved, after they were picked up by ships that responded to the alarm call and perished in the stormy sea, which made rescue operations difficult.

Following the disaster, which was defined as the heaviest maritime disaster in the Israeli merchant navy, a state commission of inquiry was appointed, headed by the former attorney general, attorney Moshe Ben Ze'ev. Among its findings, the committee noted that "the late Captain Gra Levin remained, according to all the evidence we heard, the last one on the ship, according to the best maritime tradition."

The sinking incident and the conclusions of the inquiry committee led to the tightening of safety regulations on merchant ships and the improvement of rescue training for their crews. The "Zim" company strengthened the fleet management system and established an emergency room under the responsibility of the chief marine inspector.

commemoration of the dead

Following the disaster, a memorial plaque was placed with the names of the deceased "Masada" in the Seamen's Garden at the corner of Kish Boulevard and Wingate Boulevard in Haifa. The site was established on the slope of the mountain, in front of Haifa Bay, in memory of the sailors of the Israeli Merchant Navy whose burial place is unknown. The impressive monument, which consists of three arched beams joined together at the apex and forms the figure of a ship's prow or the figure of an arrow facing the sky, was designed by the Haifa sculptor, the late Pini Weinberg.

On top of the central beam was the inscription: "In memory of the sailors of the merchant navy
who perished at sea and their burial place is unknown."

At the head of the commemorative plaque in front of the monument, inside a stone wall, is the verse: "Through the sea your path and your path in many waters and your footsteps were not known". The plaque bears the names of 74 sailors who perished and the names of 11 merchant ships on which they served.

In November 2005, Yona Levin, a teacher at the School of Naval Officers in Acre, submitted a research paper as part of the Department of Maritime Civilizations, which she dedicated to the memory of her father, the captain of the ship "Masada" at the time of its sinking.

I would like to thank Yona for receiving her father's photos from his personal album and her permission to use excerpts from her work for the purpose of this article. We would be happy for details about these photos.

May the memory of those who died be blessed forever.