A CAPTAIN VINDICATED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 143, 13 December 1911, Page 8

A CAPTAIN VINDICATED.

I CAPTAIN ATTWOOD EXONERATED. I COMPLETE UNANIMITY. By Telegraph —Press Association. I Wellington, Last Night. t Captain Attwood must be acquitted', of the* charges made against him, and he I shall so report to the Department. This I is the essence of the finding of the Court i of enquiry into the loss of the ElingaI mite oil the Three Kings on the 9th November, 1902. The court consisted of Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice, and Captains R. Smith and Crisp. "The captain," said the court, "gave notice to the engineer to lower the steamer's speed to 4y 2 knots an hour. The speed of the steamer was lowered, and if the speed dill exceed 4% knots that was not the fault of the master. He had the right to assume his instructions would be obeyed. Regarding the alleged negligence in navigation, since the hearing in 1902 the islands had been resurvej.ed and it was discovered that the chart used by the captain was wrong, , the islands being shown about one and a half miles further north than they werfe in reality. If the chart had been accurate the captain would have had notice that his ship was a mile and a half nearer land than he supposed. When a charge of negligence was made against a master in the conduct of - his ship it must be proved just as clearly as if it were made against a person for some negligence, and the fact has been laid down in many cases that if the evidence was two-faced then a case of negligence could not be proved. The vessel was assumed to 'be making 12 knots an hour from Saturday at noon until 10 oil Sunday, She was in open sea, away from land at times. Though it was foggy or hazy during all the period from Saturday aftornon till 10 on Sunday, one could at times see five miles ahead; at other times two miles."

The court continued: "We do not think therefore, considering the distance that could be seen ahead, that going at that rate of speed could be deemed negligent navigation. We must assume that the captain thought and had the right to think that the speed he desired to go at 10 on Sunday (4% knots) was the speed the steamer was doing. This was not an excessive rate under the circumstances. We are not convinced that it would have been safer for the vessel to have stopped altogether. If she was in the set of the current, and if she was near land, stopping altogether might have ended in disaster. As to the second charge, that he had taken no account of the risk of deviation from the northerly currents, in the New Zealand Pilot there is not a statement that the northerly currents are common at that part of the coast. He could not be presumed to know that the soundings would determine the true position. With this, Captain Blackburne agrees. It was unfortunate he did not do so, as he may have found he was closer to the Kings than he imagined. The charging of the boats was left to the officers. He gave instructions in this direction. What more he could do, we are at a loss to know. Consideration of the circumstances concerning the rafts will show, so far as the charge is concerned, there is no proof of any failure of duty on the part of the master. He remained on the bridge till the last, and was then washed off by the sea. To say that he was negligent in not standing by the rafts is, of course, absurd when it is remembered that the craft was drifting in a thick fog with the current, and there is, not a tittle of evidence that the captain ever saw the raft. We have dealt with the - two questions and the three charges under each which have been made against the master, and we have come to the conclusion that the captain must be acquitted of the charges made against him, and we shall so report to the Department. We may add that in coming to this, our conclusion, we are not making any reflection on the finding of the previous court. Since that finding the most important mistake in the chart has been discovered, and new soundings have been taken. Further, as to one or two points, the fresh evidence has cleared up matters that at the first enquiry were left in doubt."