A ship with a cargo of mandarins was yesterday being towed toward Bermuda by a Government tug after suffering engine problems. And a sailboat that developed engine trouble when rope got tangled in her propeller was safely towed into port in Bermuda by the Marine Police.

The 145-foot Bandrinath, which is Liberian-registered, was en route from Morocco to Delaware with 22 crew when she became disabled on Friday around 160 nautical miles north east of Bermuda. Its owners requested assistance from the Department of Marine and Ports Services later that day.

According to Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre, the tug Faithful got underway from Bermuda at 3.30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon with 11 crew after completing a local shipping commitment. She arrived on the scene yesterday. The tug and towed ship are expected in around 8.30 a.m. this morning.

Meanwhile, the>Cristina<$>, which had four crew members aboard, was en route from New Jersey when friends reported that she was not heard from in Bermuda as expected on January 5. Attempts by the crew to contact Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre by high-frequency radio were unsuccessful.

However, they managed to contact a motor vessel, Maersk Dha$>, by short-range VHF radio which passed the message on.

The Crist<$>, which was at this point 60 nautical miles north east of Bermuda, reported that it had suffered engine failure as the result of heavy rope — believed to be flotsam — entangled in the propeller.

She encountered further problems first from lack of wind and then later began struggling into increasing headwinds and ran out of fresh water. The vessel eventually sailed close enough to the East End of the Island to be towed into St. George’s on Tuesday by the Marine Police craft Heron III.