Albion Terms Hijacking of Liner Unique Feat in Oceanic History

The Portuguese rebels who hi-jacked one of their country's passenger liners Monday have pulled off a "unique" feat, probably the largest-scale piracy in history, according to Robert G. Albion, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs.

"It sounds like the biggest ship ever taken over for political or private purposes," Albion commented last night. Meanwhile, Henrique Malta Galvao, the exiled Portuguese author and adventurer now in command of the $1.6 million Santa Maria, successfully eluded three navies during a day of frantic search in the Caribbean.

The liner, carrying 950 passengers and crewmen, was seized as a protest against the Portuguese dictatorship of Premier Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, according to a message radioed by Galvao to newspapers all over the world. It was "a political action foreseen in the international maritime laws," Galvao declared. This is his fourth attempt to overthrow Premier Salazar's government.

Remarking on the strange failure of United States, British, and Dutch efforts to locate the missing liner, Albion pointed out that "the other countries may not want to get mixed up in a revolutionary plot." Under international law the navies, called to Portugal's aid by Premier Salazar, may apprehend the ship only on the open seas. "We can do nothing if she moves into any nation's territorial waters," a U.S. Navy spokesman said last night.

May Land Passengers

Albion noted the possibility that Galvao may try to land the passengers in Brazil, where Gen. Humberto Delgado, and exiled Portuguese political leader, has taken refuge. Delgado revealed last night that the rebels acted under his authority and warned that the ship will resist if attacked.

The most recent historical parallel to Monday's incident occurred during the Civil War, Albion reported. In spring, 1861, a bunch of Confederate soldiers hijacked a coastal steamer and, after an abortive attempt to sneak up on a Union supply ship, turned the passenger boat into a raider.