COOK STRAIT INCIDENT

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 123, 22 February 1928, Page 10

COOK STRAIT INCIDENT

TAMAHINE-MAUNGANUI CASE PUBLIC INQUIRY ORDERED DECISION OF MINISTER OF MARINE A public inquiry into the circumstances of the recent Maunganui.Tamahine nautical , incident in Cook Strait has been ordered by the Minister of Mar. ine (Hon. G. J. Anderson). Provision for the holding of such an inquiry is contained in section 239 of the Shipping and Seamen Act, .1908, which reads in part:— ‘‘lf the Minister has any reason to believe .. . that the safety’of the ship has been endangered by any accident or occurrence not amounting to a shipping casualty, he may cause an inquiry to be held.” Had a collision taken place inquiry would have been held under section 235 of the Act. The Minister of Marine considers that in the interests of public safety the circumstances demand that a public inquiry should be held, and he has given instructions accordingly. The inquiry will be held before a Magistrate. As both vessels will be in port on Wednesday next, February 29, it has been arranged to hold the inquiry on that dav. It will be conducted by Mr. W. G.’Riddell, S.M. When the incident was brought under the notice of the Marine Department, reports were called for from the two shipmasters concerned, that from the master of the Maunganui being received on his return to Wellington last Saturday. The reports, together with that of the Nautical Adviser to the Government, were considered by the Minister of Marine. No nautical assessors have been appointed in this case, as is customary where an inquiry is held into an actual shipping casualty. The action taken by the Marine Department is altogether independent of any inquiry held by the Union Steam Ship Company, which, after investigating the matter, decided that breaches of its own rules had been committed by the masters of the Maunganui and Tamahine, who were relieved of their commands, and are to be appointed to cargo ships of the company’s fleet.