SHIP DEFLECTED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20127, 22 December 1939, Page 6

SHIP DEFLECTED

WRECK IN FOG THEORIES AT INQUIRY ADDRESS BY COUNCIL CARE BY MASTER DENIAL OF NEGLIGENCE (Per Prese Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. On the resumption yesterday afternoon of the inquiry into the loss of the Union Steam Ship Company’s intercolonial steamer Waikouaiti, which was wrecked off Dog Island three miles from Bluff on the night of November 28, Mr. J. P. Prenderville, who appeared for the Marine Department, said he had no submissions to make. Mr. E. K. Kirkcaldie, who appeared for the master of the vessel, Captain John Bruce, submitted that the question which the court had to answer was whether the accident could be attributed to any wrongful act or fault and whether the captain honestly exercised his discretion.

He submitted the captain had done so, and the question of a wrongful act did not arise at all. This was not a case of wilful or deliberate dereliction of duty. Every officer had been on deck doing his job and honestly carrying out his duty to the best of his ability. The question of whether good seamanship had been displayed on the ship was already established by the chart placed before the court covering the period from 2 till 8 o’clock, and the distance of about 60 miles. In that time no fewer than 10 cross bearings were made. This was in fine weather. In the’ south, Stewart Island was clearly visible with the sun shining upon it. All along the coast landmarks were visible. On the mainland the peaks were showing. There were banks of fog, but no concealment of the outlines of the land.

Travelling on Edge of Fog

This would lead to the conclusion that the ship was travelling on the edge of the fog. As she neared Bluff she began to get into the edge of the fog enveloping the mainland. Between 2 o’clock and 3.15 o’clock the vessel carried slightly to the north as would be expected on the flood tide. From 4 o’clock to 6 o’clock she appeared to have a lj-knot current against her, and from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock a 13knot current.

Tidal predictions in the Nautical Almanac, the Bluff Harbour Board predictions and the course of the vessel all established that she was feeling the ebb tide more strongly as she approached Bluff. The court must judge this event ex post facto. The master could be guided only by such knowledge as he had before the event. He had a definite fix at 8 o’clock just off Bluff hill. From that position the course marked in the chart should have carried the ship a mile and a half south of Dog Island 1 . According to the predictions, there should have been at least an hour and a half of ebb tide to have carried him even further clear. He was not in the position of having the open sea on the one hand toward which he could steer. His next action would have been to obtain a departure from Dog Island light, and he would not have wanted to set a wider course southward toward Ruapuke. No Hint of Danger

There did not seem to him to be any hint of danger. He was familiar with the locality and, after making an alteration to the course, he was surely justified in considering it safe to continue.

As first officer he had a man who held an extra master’s certificate, had held command on relief, and was an experienced seaman. The question of whether the ship should slow down in the fog was open to argument in certain cases. They were sailing waters where fast currents were likely with the tide running strongly. To have endeavoured to slow up was more likely to have led him astray than maintaining his speed. He had all the data which would be destroyed by going slow. A sailor did not practise his calling on any solid element and, if he exercised his discretion honestly, there could only be one conclusion. He submitted the Waikouaiti had been deflected from her course either by a sudden change of tide or other such influence, or else the fact that she was carrying steel cargo off a coast of highly magnetised country might have deflected her or affected her instruments.

The magistrate: Any such deviation must have occurred in the five miles since the fix at 8 o’clock. There can be no question on the evidence of the accuracy of that fix. ■ Mr. Kirkcaldie: Whether there was any such influence I have not got to establish. All I have to establish is that the master showed no misconduct or negligence, and the best evidence of that is that 10 fixes were made between 2 o'clock and 8 o’clock. The court reserved its decision till to-day.