In case A student Amanda still wants to know, I've just retrieved the information that the story "A Shipment of Mute Fate," written by Martin Storm and made in 1949 into a radioplay for the "Escape" series, concerned a bushmaster (a South American pit viper) loose on an ocean liner.

Can't speak to the 10 deadliest snakes question, but surely that can't be hard to find out, given the Internet? Or just ask at a reptile store...