SPEED OF TAHITI

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 247, 9 January 1928, Page 9

SPEED OF TAHITI

EXCEEDED REGULATIONS FINDING OF JUDGE FERRY CAPTAIN EXONERATED By Cable.—Press Association.—Coj . right. SYDNEY, Saturday. Much litigation will follow the finding of the Marine Court of Inquiry in the Tahiti-Greycliffe disaster, in which Mr. Justice Campbell held that the Tahiti’s speed exceeded regulations, and that the master of the ferry steamer was not guilty of any breach of general duty. There will be many claims for compensation, and possibly an action between the Union Steam Ship Company and the Sydney Ferries, Limited. The court galleries were filled to overflowing and a large crowd gathered in the street when Mr. Justice Campbell delivered judg ment in the Tahiti-Greycliffe collision inquiry this morning. Mr. Justice Campbell said that on the evidence produced he could not give a decision on the matter; but he added that the Tahiti's speed vas in excess of the GreycliJfe’s. The captain of the latter could not be held responsible, as he considered his speed was in excess of the oversea ships’ regulations, and that therefore he could not be overtaken. Mr. Justice Campbell said that u*e Tahiti’s speed exceeded the har" -ur regulations for overseas vessels. “From abreast of the northern end of Garden Island t e place at which the collision occu. , the Tahiti was in relation to the ureycliffe an overtaking vessel, and I think the cause of the collision was the failure of the Tahiti to observe that rule, and keep out of the way of the Greycliffe. “I am unable to accept the case put forward on behalf of the Tahiti, and those in charge of that vessel, that the Greycliffe, when she was about 400 feet away from the Tahiti’s bridge, and about four points on the starboard bow, suddenly swung to port, with a sharp angle of turn that would head he almost north, and to the west of Bradley’s Head. “No one was able to suggest any reason for this as a voluntary act — it is not otherwise sought to tie explained or accounted for. and it is flatly denied by the master of the Greycliffe.” IMMINENT PERIL The Judge added that the alternative view of the reason for the two vessels being placed in such positions that a collision was inevitable, was the result of their normal progression upon their ordinary courses, respectively, and that the situation must then have been potentially dangerous. The master of the Greycliffe was clearly totally Ignorant of this, and of the proximity of the Tahiti, but those in control of the Tahiti, having the Greycliffe in full view, should have been aware of it, but apparently were not, and a momentary inattention to the Greycliffe when the ferry steamer Woolara was passing to port afforded just sufficient time to turn the potential danger Into an imminent and deadly peril. This whs recognised by the pilot of the Tahiti, when he exclaimed “Good God!” and sounded two blasts of the whistle. Mr. Justice Campbell said he was constrained to accept this view by the force of evidence, as well as by a consideration of the probabilities. It seemed more probable that the situation was allowed to develop dangerously in a momentary interval of distraction than that the tragedy was created by an insen sale act. of an apparently sane man; that was. by the master of the Greycliffe suddenly and without any conceivable motive turning at a right-angle irom his course and going in a direction in which he had no desire to go. Th evidence indicated a probability of the vessels slightly converging sufficiently to place them in dangerous proximity, without any such sudden convergence as attributed to the Greycliffe. FERRY CAPTAIN EXONERATED Dealing with the speeds of the two vessels, the Judge said it was not, on the evidence, possible to arrive at a definite estimate of the speed of either vessel, but in his judgment there was no room for doubt that the speed of the Tahiti, as she approached the point of collision, was greatly in excess of the prescribed speed limit for outgoing deep-sea vessels in that portion of the harbour It must have exceeded the speed o’ the Greycliffe, which probably was between 9 and 10 knots. That ci the Tahiti was possibly 12 knots. There was no evidence to show that the master of the Greycliffe committed any positive breach of the rules of harbour navigation, nor was there any evidence to show that he was guilty of an act of omission or commission, amounting to a breach of general duty to exerc se care in the management of his vessel, which caused or contributed to the collision. Mr. Justice Campbell lays stress on the necessity for the authorities to see that the harbour regulations were vigorously carried out. He added that a'ter the collision everything was done that could have been done to save life. No one on board the Tahiti or elsewhere who was in a position to aid exhibited any lack of concern, or judgment, or effort for the mitigation of the immediate consequences of the disaster. CLAIMS BY DEPENDANTS The inquiry by the coroner into the disaster will l>e reopened at the Coroner’s Court to-morrow. Fifty witnesses have already been examined and subpoenas serve 1 on 100 others, so that the hearing is likely to be a lengthy one. What action will follow Mr. Justice Campbell’s findings in the Marine Court will depend either upon the Federal Director of Navigation or upon the State Superintendent of Navigation, who have power to decide from the findings whether material exists upon which any individual can be called upon to show cans 3 why his certificate should not be cancelled. Although the parties have no right of appeal against Mr. Justice Campbell’s findings, subsequent litigation will open the door of appeal. Claims for compensation by those injured in the disaster and by dependants of those killed are sure to be filed in the Supreme Court- Another possible development is an action at law between the Union Steam Ship Company and Sydney Ferries, Limited-—A. and Xi