REASONS GIVEN

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20995, 23 December 1939, Page 8

REASONS GIVEN

WAIKOUAITI FINDING

UNWARRANTED RISK TAKEN POSSIBILITY OF TIDE SET (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Friday Giving the reasons for finding that Captain John Bruce, master of the Waikouaiti, committed an error of judgment when the vessel was wrecked off Dog Island on November 28, the chairman of the Court of Inquiry, Mr A. M. Goulding, S.M., said that from 2 o’clock on the afternoon of November 28 until 8 p.m. the Waikouaiti had steered a course which brought her to a point two and a-half miles off Bluff Hill and five and a-half miles west of the Dog Island light. This light in normal weather was visible for eighteen miles. The course from 2 to 8 p.m. was charted by bearings from time to time, the latest being at 6.46 p.m., when the position of the vessel was fixed as stated. Between 4 and 8 p.m. the course showed no deviation, but the log readings between 4 and 8 p.m. showed that the vessel was making against the ebb tide. The tide tables would suggest that after 8 o’clock the ebb was still running, and the master expected that if there were any set it would tend to take the ship south of the course he had set. At 8 p.m. the Dog Island light and Bluff Hill were invisible owing to fog. Even the rocks along the shore were invisible, but the sea was calm. The master was in charge of the vessel. He remained on the same course between 7.56 and 8.15 p.m., when he ordered a change in the course of one and a-half points southward. There was no alteration in the speed. Warning About Tides The Dog Island light was not seen until after the stranding, the point of which was later fixed at somewhat less than half-a-mile from the light and almost duo west of it. In finding that there was error of judgment in proceeding on the course after 8 p.m., the court drew attention to a warning in the Nautical Almanac concerning the tides around Bluff Harbour. There was no evidence from which the court could properly infer that the ship was set off her course by any unusual tide set, but there may have been, and if there were it occurred after the position was fixed at 7.56 p.m., and in the distance of five and a-half miles from there to the place of stranding. The warning in the Nautical Almanac seemed to be an additional reason why extra precautions were necessary and rendered it still more necessary not to proceed. The master was no stranger to the locality and should have been aware of the warning. Master’s Record In proceeding as he did, the master steered a course to take him south of Dog Island. The court thought he took a risk which was not warranted, but did not think that he was guilty of any wrongful act in the management of the ship. After the disaster he took all proper steps in the circumstances. The court returned a clean certificate to the master, whose long unblemished record extended for nearly twenty years, and it did not mulct him in costs. The chairman added that at 7.56 p.m., the fix was the result of a bearing taken in failing light, and one of the points was some twenty miles away. The court accepted the evidence of the ship’s position then, but drew attention to the possibility of error in such circumstances, though error had not been established.

Mr A. M. Goulding, S.M., presided, and the nautical assessors were Captains L. C. H. Worrall and J. Mawson. Mr J. P. Prendeville appeared for the Marine Department, Mr E. K. Kirkcaldie for the master of the ship, and Mr A. E. White for the Union Company. Captain F. A. Macindoe watched proceedings on behalf of the Merchant Service Guild.