MALABAR WRECK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 94, 22 April 1931, Page 9

MALABAR WRECK.

CAPTAIN'S NEGLIGENCE. EVIDENCE OF A MALAYAN. CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 17. A feature of the proceedings before the Commonwealth Marine Court of Inquiry which sat this week to investigate the wreck of the Burns-Philip liner Malabar, was the conflicting evidence given by officers and quartermasters of the vessel. Captain Leslie, who was in charge of the Malabar at the time of her grounding at Long Bay, near Sydney, was found guilty of negligence and his certificates were cancelled. The Malabar left Melbourne for Sydney, en route to Singapore, on March 31 and on the morning of April 2 went aground at the northern point of Long Bay, about seven miles south of Sydney Heads. Passengers and crew landed safely, but within 24 hours the vessel had been broken up by the heavy <*ja3 Salvage operations are in progress and some valuable fittings and machinery have been recovered. The charge against Captain Leslie was that he had failed in his duty in a matter relating to navigation. Preliminary evidence given was that the vessel was valued at £220,000 and was insured for that amount. Captain Stephen G. Green, marine superintendent of Burns-Philip and Company, stated that safety was the first consideration of the company and all masters in their employ had been instructed that this axiom must be observed at all times irrespective of time-tables or schedules. Captain Leslie was regarded as one of the most careful masters in Australia. The chief officer, Keith Morris, said he went on watch at 4 a.m. on April 2 and handed over to Captain Leslie at 6.35 a.m., when the weather was clear and the extreme northern point of Long Bay could be seen about a mile and a half distant. The average speed was 12 knots. He did not draw the attention of Captain Leslie to the land on the port bow, as he assumed that Leslie knew the course and the sgeed and could >see the land ahead, » ■A

"Heard Vessel Grounding." At that time both Captain Leslie and myself remarked on the appearance of smoke over Sydney, but at the time wc had not reached Miranda Head (|he northern point of Long Bay) and the course we were on would have taken us about half a mile east of the point. I went below to shave and five minutes later heard the master give the order, 'Port, five degrees.' A Ipng blast of the whistle followed and about two minutes later I heard the vessel grounding. I went to the bridge where Captain Leslie told me to get the boats and passengers ready. I did so.' Magicl, a Malayan quartermaster, who was at *the whe'el at the time of the grounding, gave evidence. He could understand the questions, but an interpreter was needed to explain his replies. Giving details of the captain's orders on the morning of the. grounding, Magid said the first order was "N 5 degrees east, steady." Two minutes later there was another order, "five degrees starboard, steady north," and shortly afterwards there was the order "Port five degrees." He was turning the wheel to port, he said, when the ship struck. When he received the three orders the weather was misty. Kecalled, the chief officer said that the course which the Malayan quartermaster had stated the ship to be on at 6 a.m. was wrong. He had known native quartermasters to hesitate after an order before they turned the wheel, but he had not known them actually to swing the wheel the wrong way. Two Long Bay fishermen told how the Malabar passed on the inside of them, between their boats and the coast, a few minutes before the grounding. The weather at the time was very foggy. Master 71 Years of Age. Captain Leslie was the next witness. He said he had held his master's certificate since 1886, and he was now 71 years of age. When he took over from the chief officer the weather was clear for some distance. He could not see Miranda Point owing to a haze. Prom Cape Banks to where the vessel stranded was a lfttle under two miles. He ordered the quartermaster to "port five degrees" three or four minutes before the vessel grounded. She had not altered her course much when the vessel grounded—about three degrees. He denied that he had given any starboard order. Asked by Captain Williams, presenting the Director of Navigation, if he could account for the. Malabar making the north magnetic course mr

for a distance of two miles, Captain Leslie replied, "All I can say is that the quartermaster must have made a mistake and put her on the starboard helm instead of the port, as he was ordered to do." Peering Ahead Through Fog. Describing the events just prior to the grounding, Captain Leslie said that he did not check the order to* port helm. The quartermaster had repeated the order, but Leslie said he did not have any sensation of feeling the ship swing. He was peering ahead through a thick fog which had suddenly enveloped the vessel. He was about to ring the engine room for a reduction of speed owing to the thick haze, when the impact came. Captain Leslie agreed that if the engines had been going slowly the result of the grounding might not have been so disastrous. In delivering the decision of the Court the president said that the Court was entirely satisfied that the charge against the master of the ship had been proved. His certificate of competency as a ship's master was cancelled. Mr. Manning, who appeared for Captain Leslie during the hearing of the case, in his address to the Court before the decision, declared that the story of the Malayan quarter master about receiving two starboard orders was false, and contended that the captain had taken every precaution, when the land became obscured bythe sudden fog, to get into a safe position. After the decision of the Court was announced, Captain Williams, of the Commonwealth Navigation Department a tribute tp the work of Captain Leslie and the other officers of the ship for the prompt and effective measurewhich were taken to get the passengerand crew to safety.