INQUIRY INTO WRECK OF WAIKOUAITI

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 302, 22 December 1939, Page 2

INQUIRY INTO WRECK OF WAIKOUAITI

Captain’s Evidence s Per Press Association. ) ? WELLINGTON, Dec. 21. Tho formal inquiry into the loss of the Union Co.'s inter-colonial steamer * Waikouaiti, which was wrecked off Dog ’ Island, three miles from Bluff, on the 1 night of November 28, was begun in * Wellington to-day. The Waikouaiti, a ship of 392 C tons, was on a voyage from 3 Sydney to Lyttelton when she ran x aground in a fog. She was abandoned r by the underwriters a few days later. Mr. A, M. Goulding, S.M., presided, and the nautical assessors were Cap--3 tains L. C. H. Worrall and J. Mawson. Mr. J. P. Prendeville appeared for the s Marine Department, Mr. E. K. Kirkcal- * die for tho master and the ship, and Mr. A. E. White for the Union Co. s Captain F. A. Maclndoe watched the 0 proceedings on behalf of the Merchant 0 Service Guild. 1 Before the taking of evidence tne [magistrate said that the ship had been ■t [proceeding on a course fixed by the Admiralty, and he asked that details of the course be not published, except 1 jthose immediately relevant to the in--1 muiry. e j Captain John Bruce, master of the ' Waikouaiti, said that he altered course (during the afternoon of November 20 a land remained on it till 8.15 p.m. During (that time there were banks of fog L ‘ kround the mainland. The sea was ’’ smooth with a light south-west wind of = [force three.. r Fog Patchy. 1 t Captain Bruce said that the second , T officer who was on watch checked the * ship’s position several times during the afternoon, and at 4 p.m. the chief officer relieved him. Witness himself was 5 (frequently on the bridge. At 8 p.m. t the fog was patchy to the north and clear to the south. A bearing v/as s taken by the cihef officer at 7.56 p.m. It was the last one marked on the * chart. Dog Island was not visible at 1 that time. The ship held the same e course until 8.15, at which time, seeing [that Dog Island was still obscured, he pulled the ship a point and a half to the southward. He considered he would (thus clear Dog Island by a mile and a L ’ palf to two miles. They had not sighted the light on Dog 7 island at 8.15 because of the fog. The ship was going about 9£ knots. It was pot quite dark at 8.15. Captain Bruce said he maintained his course to pass Dog Island, and at ,8.30 he sighted land fine on the port bow. He gave orders * to the man at the wheel to put the helm hard astarboard, at the same time ordering the third officer to ring “standl. by”. At 8.38, after the ship came \ rounds to the south-east, she struck the bottom. At 8.38 J witness rang “stop” to the * (engine-room and gave instructions to * (have soundings taken all round the - iship. The least depth f4und was 16 feet aft. The ship’s draught was 20 I [feet five inches forward and 22 feet 6 g inches aft. Engines Fouled. At 10.30 p.m., with the flood tide, the iship started to swing, and he decided to try the engines. He rang full speed 3 pstern. At that time there were 42 feet of water at the ship’s stern. The chief engineer informed witness that * he could not turn the engines as something had fouled the propellor. Then witness thought rocks might be causing trouble, but at daylight he found that i the stern frame of the ship had been broken, and the propellor blade s were catching on the frame and rudder. One jpf the blades had been broken off. lumbers one and two holds were found ;o be full of water. No subsequent atempt was made to get the ship off, » is, with two holds full of water, she ’ Would not have floated. , Captain Bruce said that the ship carried 5411 tons of general cargo. Witness said he took no soundings before striking, as he was confident bf his position. The light on Dog island was not clear all that night. To Mr Prendeville witness said that he did not reduce speed because of the tides in Foveaux Strait. To Mr Kirkcaldie, Captain Bruce said that he had been a master for 20 , years and had never previously appear- , ed before a court of inquiry. Up to almost eight p.m. they definitely knew where the vessel was. At eight p.m. witness estimated that he was about five miles from Dog Island. During the ebb tide, continued Captain Bruce, there v/as a strong current in a southerly direction from Bluff Harbour, and he expected to be carried south at the time he was passing. Ha , considered it perfectly safe to carry on. There must have been an unexpected set from the south. A fog signal on Dog Island would have made all the differMr. Prenderville said be bad, no subifiisions to make. The question the Court bad to answer, submitted Mr. Kirkcaldie, was if the accident could be attributed to any wrongful act or fault and whether the captain honestly exercised discretion. He submitted that tho 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. The question of whether good seamanship had been displayed on the ship was already established by the chart placed before the Court. He submitted that the Waikouaiti had been deflected from her course either by a sudden change of the tide or other such influence, or else by the fact that she was carrying a steel cargo off the coast of a highly magnetised country might have deflected her or affected her instruments. The Magistrate: Any such deviation must have occurred in five miles since the fix at 8 o'clock. There can be no question on the evidence of the accuracy of that fix. Mr. Kircaldie: 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 the 10 fixes made between 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock. The Court reserved its decision till tomorrow. i <