HEAVY SEAS ENDANGER SHIPS

Chronicle (Levin), 23 June 1947, Page 5

HEAVY SEAS ENDANGER SHIPS

-Press Assoclation

ONE HAS TO LEAVE PORT FOR SAFETY

By Telegraph ■

XEW PTA'MOUTH, June ±'2, ; Fears for the continued saf'ety of the' motor vessel Eastern City after her fore' and aft lines had parted under ihe strain of an unusualJv lieavj- surge at high tide, eaused those in charge of tlie ship to putjier to sea from the port ; of Xew Plymouth at I a-.m. today. Shei was not to be seen from tlre shore todav' Init she is thought not to be far awav and will probably return to port tomorrow. * -Moored agai-n at Moturoa Wharf after her stern lines had parted earlv 011 Baturday morniug, the Eastern. City rolled uneasilv at her berth tliroughout the day with a high wiri-'!' whipping up tlre harbour waters -and' mountainous rolJers -crashing over the, breakwater. Tlien the wind changed from the west to southwesterly and t'h e i Ruahine and Waitomo at Newton King "wharf began to cause concern. A1J three ships stood by 011 Sa'turday afternoou in readiness to put to sea shou'id the neeessity arise. • About high tide at 11. 5o p.m. on ."Saturday, the stern lines of the Eastern City parted and the vessel was swing*i ing well out from the wharf and eonii-ngj back against it with a resounding erash. , ■Some progress had been made in' making her fast again when it was reported that the fore lines ha-d bro-keir

and those in eliarge were left with no alternative but to put to sea. Freeing' the ship of h&r remaini-ng lines and ; ■damaged hawsers was not easy with the vessel eontinually on the move but it was accomplished in good time. -Somcof the chains were cut loose and -allowed to drop into the harbour. Thevt will later be recovered by a diver. Areanwhile all was not well with the Ruahine and Waitomo. The Waitomo V stern lines carried awav but othe-r than a smashed gangway she suffered no. damage before she was made fast. The moorings of the Ruahine also broke; 'during tlie night and if was irot un-til ; 11.30 a.m. today that these ships wenq again properly rnoored. The ships ;| weathered the high tide at 12.19 p.m. and rode more or less easily at their berths during the afternoon. Perhaps the most serious damage, in view of the eireumstanees, was the loss of mooring equipment. About 20. hawsers parted during the two da.ys - seriously depleting the harbour board 's stocks. Pile tops were sheered off and others were brok-en but it is stated that no reliable estimate of the damage to , the piles of the wharves ean be made until an examin'ation has been made. j Breaching the boulder wai! badly in three -places 'and swepping the • •br'east- i

work away at a number of otner points, heavy seas broke on to tlie railway yards at New Plymouth on Baturday., For a time, in spite of the continued work by rep-air gangs, i't was a question whefcher the inroads of the sea could J»e stopped. The movement .in the wall began on Friday night when iau, exeeptional spring tide driven by a, gale, batf-ei'ed th-e rocks with hugOj breakers. All day Saturday men Worleed -a travelling erane to renew the upton! vvhere the receding waters had •swirled tlie boulde-rs, mahy of theius more than a ton in weight, baclc' on to; the 'ocea-n tfl'oor, but 'Saturday 's high tide renewed the damage and so did the tide that night and the tide at 12,19 p.m. today. At one stage it seemed a; slow and hopeless task but with the tides gradually receding in height andi the sea losing some' of its fierceness,-ire \ pairs this afternoon began to show more p'ei'm'an'ency-. 'The eleetri'cab meehanism for the operati'on of signals ; was put out of operation at some places| in the railway yards. Seawahei j flooded the ground and got into the; wires eausing fusing, with the result; that there were oeoasions when it was, necessary to operate some of the points ; by hand.