DREDGE SINKS AT BERTH

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23972, 12 June 1943, Page 6

DREDGE SINKS AT BERTH

ol*£N VALVE THOUGHT TO BE CAUSE RAISING AND REFITTING MAY BE COSTLY

jL Sinking at her berth at Number 2 pyharf at Lyttelton in the early hours Jof yesterday morning, the Lyttelton ■Harbour Board's big suction dredge. jCanterbury, now lies submerged, with fonly her funnel, mast, and the fop of Ethe bridge showing at high water. The ‘cause of the mishap is believed to have fbeen an open valve, which, although '■normally six inches above the water s,level, by some means became subIxnerged, so that the vessel filled and • sank. It was shortly after 2 a.m. when it .Was first noticed that the Canterbury gwas heeling over towards the whar£. aMembcrs of the board’s staff were Ifummoned, but little could be done. The list of the vessel became more .pronounced, and the funnel and mast twere damaged by contact with the fwharf. As the vessel sank lower about 4 a.m., she righted herself, until she settled evenly on her parallel keels on the harbour bottom. A passenger launch moored to the adjoining jetty yogs moved out of the way before it cauld be damaged. > ■(The work of salvaging the dredge is to take a considerable time, Sand the whole work of raising and reputing the vessel will be costly. R ..The board has not suitable gear for LtheAvork, and is further handicapped |by having no diver on the staff, the Iforjmer diver, Mr J. Canning, having Idied early this week. The dredge is jflying on a mud bottom, and it is not “thought that the hull is much damaged. An inspection was made yesterday morning by officials of the board, and t preliminary inquiry was opened. Built at Renfrew, Scotland, in 1911. bv W. Simons and Company, Ltd., to the order of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, the Canterbury is of 1113 tons gross register. Her principal dimensions arc; length. 204.2 feet: breadth, 38.1 feet; depth. 16.8 feet. Her pumping capacity is 90 tons a minute, and the vessel has lifted 1200 tons of mud and silt in 20 minutes. When the barque Amy Turner, laden with case petrol, caught fire in Lyttelton Harbour in 1918, the Canterbury was put alongside the barque, and. by pumping water direct into the blazing hold, sank the Amy Turner in 15 minutes. Later the Canterbury assisted in raising the vessel. The Canterbury has been chartered by other harbour authorities for dredging purposes at various times, and has dredged at Timaru. Oamaru. Nelson, and Auckland.