to Monte Cervantes in order to assist with taking the remaining luggage items on board. Subsequently, the luggage transporter tried to tow Monte Cervantes, but this effort failed due to the insufficient engine power of the Argentine ship, only 450 horsepower (336 kilowatts). As evening approached Captain Dreyer sent the remaining crew ashore. He wanted to remain on the ship, which he believed would hold its position. The steward could not persuade him to leave. Meanwhile, two other officers climbed back on board to retrieve some items. Monte Cervantes sinks Shortly thereafter a strong tremor traveled throughout Monte Cervantes and the bow of the ship nosed over and began to sink. The crew jumped into the water and were saved by the waiting launch. However Captain Dreyer was unable to save himself. Wearing his life ring, he jumped and accidentally slipped into the open promenade area of the ship. He thus drowned in his own ship and became the only victim of the shipwreck. The launch searched for over an hour for Dreyer, but his body was never found. The stern of the ocean liner did not go under but remained visible from the sea. Since the ship rested on a rocky reef outside the normal shipping routes, no efforts were made to remove it. Exoneration On 6 March 1930, the marine court of Hamburg held an inquiry into the sinking of the Monte Cervantes "in the Beagle Passage of the Straits of Magellan." The verdict exonerated Captain Dreyer, who had lost his life. Salvage attempts For more than 20 years the ship rested relatively securely on underwater rock. Metal prices rose after the Second World War, and in 1951 the Italian salvage company Salvamar ("Seasaver") secured the marine salvage rights at the wreck site. A complete salvage was impossible and thus the strategy was to remove piece by piece all usable metal parts to melt down and sell. In 1953 the rescue tug St. Christopher (formerly ) was chartered to assist in the salvage operations. The tug ended up being beached and abandoned herself during the work and remains near Ushuaia today, a monument to the treacherous channel. In 1954 the attempt was begun to drag the wreck to Ushuaia where the more difficult dismantling could be undertaken. The salvage crew used floating devices to bring the ship back to the vertical. Finally the ship turned upright and slid