INQUIRY INTO LOSS OF TRAWLER

Chronicle (Levin), 3 May 1947, Page 6

INQUIRY INTO LOSS OF TRAWLER

—Press Association

Bu Telegranh

^ WELLINGTON, May 2. The circumstances surrounding \tho • loss of the Futurist, a steam trawler of 237 tons, which ran aground early on the morning of March 19 at Long Point about 10 miles south of Cape Campbell, and was subsequently abandoned, were related today at an inquiry held before Mr. Hk -J. Thompson, S.M., and Captains A. H. Howe and A. TL Dowell, ns marine assessors. D-r. N. A- Foden, with him Cap.tain L^ Robertson, represented .the Marine Department. Mr. E. N.' Sladden represented the owners, New Zea land Fisheries, Ltd. .. Mr., A. J, Mazengarb appeared for- the master. of , the Futurist, Captain Alexander Sutherlands . ' ■ - It was related in evidence tha.t the . Futurist was not anchored On the night before the • mishap but taken well out from shore and allowed to drift, that the man on watch when the ship went aground was a fireman and not a deck hand, and that a sudden change in weather not covered by the latest forecast available to the ship occurred on the morning of the disaster. Mr. Mazengarb contended that this last condition, an abnormal set that was beyond prediction, had caused the casualty. The same thing, he said, had obtained in the mishaps to the Rangatira and Breeze. Much discussion centred round the qucstion of anchoring in the • Cape Campbell fishing grounds. ''We don't anchor at night for safety but for • convenience and to Bave steaming in the morning, ' ' said James Tullock, fireman, and part 0"Wner of the trawler. Phyllis which had -been in the vicinty o'f the Futurist when she went aground. Captain Sutherland said the practice of drifting at night was the normal procedure. He stated that the" anchor on the Futurist had to be weighed by hand windlass — the operation with t.he inexperienced crew under him would take about two hours. In his association with the vessel since 1927 he had lation pendmg in Congress. Mr. Gteen seen the anchor used, only once. A former master of the Futurist, Captain Charles Ormes, supported the practice of night drifting but said the ship's anchor could be weighed by an experienced crew in half-an-hour. He admitted, however, that in 19 years with the vessel he had seen lier anchor used only about four times. He agreed that while the ship was drifting its safety depended wholly upon the man on w'ateh. The latter should be an experienced seaman or deck hand but under present conditions when experienced trawler crews were difficult to obtain, he saw no great danger in. allow ing a fireman to do watch duty on deck. Evidence was given by Alfred Wil liam Paton, fireman, that he had assumed watch duty on the Futurist at midnight on March 18. He had been given instruetions to rouse the captain if the ship began to drift shorewards. A certain amount of drift had been pointed out to him by the previous watch but ! hO" 6ieb rbot thdmk 4tr senoughi .tto, r.cause alarm. Dr. Foden: Where did you think yoo were drifting to then? Answer: Damned if 1 knew. 'To the evident delight of the court.) Paton added that he- could not Say how the Futurist caine to be stTanded on the ' rocks. He did not negle.ct his duties. When: the ;captain had turhecL in the night was .daTk but clear. 'Later- a mist had sprung up: iTh$ es-teht'- bf the drpft was hard to calculate. The court 's decision will be announced early next wreek.