LOSS OF THE BARQUE INVERNESS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 198, 16 May 1919, Page 7

LOSS OF THE BARQUE INVERNESS

, ■.'——*———" ■ ~ DUE TO SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION ' DANGER OF COAL CARGOES By Teleerai»'a.—Prese Association. . Auckland, May 55. ■ An. important judgment by Mr. B. C. Cutten, S.M., and the assessors, Captain G. M'Kenzie and Professor F. P. Worley, who investigated the circumstances of the loss of the 'barque Inverness, was delivered in the Magistrate's Court to-day. The inquiry was commenced on August 15, and proceeded for Borne time afterwards. • A preliminary was : previously • given exonerating the master, Captain Hughes, commeuding him for his "action, and returning to him his certificate. The fina} decision was held over to enable the scientific aspects to be inquired into, and to enable the obtaining of information from different parts of the world. The . barque Inverness left Durban, South Africa, on 'February 25,1918', bound for Taltal, Chile, with a cargo of 2500 tons of coal, which became heated during the voyage, and eventually took fire. ,On the morning' of April 24, when |670 milts S.S.W. of Hapu Island, the ship was abandoned, the master, officers, and crew proceeding in'two of the ship's boats to Eapa. ■' "" • ' .•' The judgment of the Court was expressed as follows:—"The loss of the ship was due to spontaneous combustion of her cargo of coal, and was not due to or contributed to by negligence, wrongful act, or default on the part of the owners or of the master, officers, or crew of the stiip. The ship was well found, and well manned. The master of the ship, following instructions received' from the owners, made careful inquiry to satisfy himself that.the coal was safe 'cargo,• and throughout took every precaution and exercised every care in his power to preserve the ship. The utmost credit is due to him and to his officers and crow for the skilful way in which the long voyage to'Kapa Island was accomplished, without loss of life. In the opinion of the.Court tho particular coal carried ,\ras not safe coal to carry in such quantity on so long a voyage, and it has been demonstrated that slack coal stored in depths of over thirteen or fourteen feet presents conditions favourable to spontaneous inflammation. In view of tho evidence in this case, the Court makes' the following recommendations , :-- (I) Considering that the tendency to spontaneous combustion varies greatly with tho nature of the coals mined in different localities', and also with their condition, it is desirable that full information about all coals shipped from nny port should be available to the masters and owners of vessels from the port anthorilies; (2) since it has been fully e*' tablished that • the tendency to spontaneous combustion of coai increases with thosize of I he cargo and the length of the voyage, the port authorities should supervise the loading of coal, pud should have power to limit the size of the cargo according to the nature of the coal and probable duration of tho voy. age; (.1)- reports of Royal Commissions and tho knowledge gained by public and also Di-ivato investigations should pe more widely distributed; (i) fuller information sboiilii be supplied in official log Ix>oks on tho precautions iiPwsKiry in the carriage of coal cargoes, and instructions should be given on Iho treatment of cargoes that liavo become spontaneously heated or inflamed. The Court is constrained to make these recommendations because of tho fact that oynry ship is now and for manv yew's will be a national asset. AVliilst it is true that the owner may in largo measure protect himself by insurance against loss, the interests of the nation cau be protected and conserved only-by a wider dissemination of knowledge, and by such official contro] and supervision as will overcome Hip ignorance m caprice of those primarily concerned." • /

Lieutenant-Colonel T. AV. Irvine, Chief Medical Officer of the iNorth-Wi'sc Frontier Province, has been drowned while crossing the Kabul Rlvor. _ Colonel Irvine, who was cominissioncd in July, 1881, and was in military employment till 1902, was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Hie North-West Frontier Province in October, 1911. He saw active mrvioe in China i>l 1300 and received the Kaiear-i-Kind medal (firat ,class) ia 1911, :