STRANDED SHIP

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20085, 3 November 1939, Page 11

STRANDED SHIP

INQUIRY OPENS

PORT BOWEN MISHAP

EVIDENCE OF CAPTAIN

LIGHTS INDISTINCT

DISTANCE OVER-RUN

(Pnr Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day

The magisterial inquiry into the stranding of the Port Bowen at Castlecliff on July 19 opened before the magistrate, Mr. J. L. Stout. The assessors are Captain Worrall, Wellington, and Captain Charman, Christchurch

Mr. J. Prcnrieviiic appears for the Marine Department. Mr. E. K, Kirkcaldie for the master. Captain F. W. Bailey. Captain Macindoe is also watching the interests ot the master and officers on behalf of the Navigators and Engineers Officers’ Union of England. Mr. R. C. Christie is representing the owners ot the vessel.

Captain Bailey said he could not say what the insurances were. He had been around the New Zealand coast previously. On the trip on which the stranding occurred, the vessel left Picton on July 18. Her draft was 24ft. din. forward and 28ft. Gin in the aft. lie set a - sourse to bring him west of Wanganui breakwater. There was a slight southerly and a slight swell. It was dark and cloudy overhead. Mr. Prendeville: Did you take a note of the tide? —I did not. According to a note in the New Zealand Nautical Almanac the tides around Cook Strait are very indifferent. Confident of Position Continuing, witness said that about 9.45 p.m. he was on the bridge. The Port Bowen was then approaching Wangaui. At 10.50 ho picked up Castleclitf light at an estimated distance of 19 miles. He checked that up with the log distance of the run from the last permanent fix on the South Island. That put the vessel five and a half miles westward of her original course and, as he had a double check he was quite confident the position was correct. He then laid a course 15 degrees to the starboard and maintained practically the same distance off Wanganui mole light. At 11.45 he proceeded to a position which gave him five and a half rr.iles to go to Wanganui lights. About this time a light was sighted which to him was distinctly orange in colour, and he consulted the fourth officer. As they could find no orange light of any consequence, they discarded it and did not take a bearing. This light afterwards proved to be one of the mole lights. At 11.50 he put the engines at half speed and, about this time, picked uo a red light near Castlccliff. This light was very dim and was visible only through powerful glasses. It did not'look like a navigation light and might have been anything. Sighted With Binoculars

About 11.55 the chief officer came on to the bridge merely for orders, and not to assist in the navigation, but when witness remarked that he could not yet see any of the lights, the chief officer picked up the binoculars and after scanning the shore for a few minutes sighted a green light. They did not take a bearing, but it would be to the north on the starboard bow. About this time witness instructed the fourth officer to get some bearings off the Castlccliff light and another light. The fourth officer went into the chart room and witness followed and at once he saw lie had overrun the distance. He shouted to the chief officer to stop the engines and hurried to the bridge to put the helm hard to starboard. The vessel was swinging on the starboard helm and was slow and sluggish, so at 12.9 he went ahead on the port engines.

At 12.11, while going at full speed on the port engine, the vessel touched a bank in the way of No. 4 hatch on the port side. By this time he could see two mole lights, and they were at .a point on the port bow. He continued with the engine going ahead and tried both engines ahead at 12.13 to see if she would work of! the bank. It made no difference. At 12.33 the vessel was not moving so he slopped the engines altogether.

Anchor Fails to Hold

At 12.3 G the starboard anchor was let go to try and hold the ship’s head to the sea, but it would not hold. Soundings were taken of the holds and the tanks and, as the ship was not making any water and there was no danger to life, lie did not abandon the ship. He sent messages to' the local agents at Wanganui and to the office in Wellington.

Witness went on to give details of the attempts thereafter to gel the ship off, tiie breaking of the anchor cables during gales and the driving 01. the vessel over the sandbank ano closer inshore, with all the subsequent salvage operations. To the magistrate, witness said he was so confident that his position was safe that he did not check the echosounding device. He had been in the Wanganui roadstead about six times over a period of 15 years as chief officer, rfe was making for the usual place of archorage shown on the chart, but was actually to the north of it. He had since found out that there was rain ancl hail over the land that night. Deceived by Lights Replying to Mr. Kirkcaldie, ho said his record as a seaman was a clean sheet. At 8 p.m. the ship was half a mile to the westward of her course bearing. The position along the course bearing by the log and the position by a cross bearing corresponded within a quarter of a mile. The rising bearing, such as he took on Cnstlccliff light, gave a fairly definite fix, coinciding with the log reading. He said that actually he was deceived by the harbour lights and did not see them when he anticipated.

He had come to the conclusion that the weather conditions ashore that night were responsible for the orange appearance of the mole light. It was when he did not pick up the red light he instructed the fourth officer to take a bearing off the Castled iff light and immediately found he had over-run the distance and was to the north of the breakwater.

Mr. Kirkcaldie: Up to that time, had you any hint of danger because you could not see the red light?—No. I was quite sure of my position. The third officer gave evidence that the lights at the time of the stranding were not as distinct as they appeared later on watch, ancl John Norman Devlin, fourth officer, gave corroborative evidence regarding the orange appearance of the light described by the master. On several occasions since