MANUKA WRECK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 74, 8 January 1930, Page 3

MANUKA WRECK

THE NAUTICAL INQUIRY. CAPTAIN CONTINUES EVIDENCE. (Per Press Association.) DUNEDIN, This Day. Tire Nautical Inquiry into the wreck of the Manuka was resumed yesterday before Mr H. AY. Bundle, S.M. Captains Won-all and Stringer were assessors. The Crown Solicitor, Mr F. B. Adams, represented the Marine Department, Mr A. N. Haggitt the -Union Company. Mr A. C. Hanlon Captain Ross Clark and Mr Cecil Rivers Carlyon, third officer of the Manuka. The questions for decisions were (1) Whether the striking and subsequent loss of the vessel were due to the negligence of Captain Ross Clark. (2) Whether Cecil Rivers Car Ivon, officer in charge of the ship at the time of striking, was negligent or contributed to the casualty. (3) The cause of the casualty. (4) Whether proper steps were taken after the casualty for the safety of the lives of the passengers and crew. The statement of the ease was that the Manuka left Bluff shortly after 5 o’clock on December 16 for Dunedin. The usual courses were steered, a fixed position being obtained oft AA aipapa Point. Later, land was observed in the vicinity of Slope Point, visibility then being about four miles, later decreasing somewhat, hut at no time clid it appear to be less than a mile. At 10.53 p.m. the ship struck rocks off Long Point. Orders were immediately given for the boats to be got oiit and for the -embarkation of the passengers and crew. This was successfully accomplished about 1 o’clock in the morning of December 1/. At daylight ail members of the ship’s company and passengers had been safely landed. Continuing his evidence Captain Clark said to Mr Haggitt that the vessel was absolutely sound and seaworthy. . , To Captain Stringer: The vessel was in good trim for steering. To Mr Hanlon: He had been on the coast as master for eight years and another six to eight years as officer. Practically the whole time of his service as master he had been trading between Dunedin and Bluff. He never had discovered anv set other than thcc’noifherly one on the coast after lear ing Chaslands. On the night of the wreck he had no drink' As far as the officers were concerned there could be no suggestion that they had any drink. The ship had two compasses. All care was taken at convenient opportunities to discover errors in< the compasses. 1-rom his oxperion.se he would say he was justified in, relying on the standard compass. The Course Set. In renlv to Air Hanlon, Contain Clark said his chart had been corrected in writing right up-to-date. The helmsmen on duty were capable, reliable men The officers under him also were capable, reliable, • sober men. It . was ■the duty of the officer on watch to look at' the compass and see it the helmsman was steering the course set. When he was on the bridge that night, he frequently looked at the compass to see that the course was being maintained. After leaving the Bluff, he set the usual courses adopted by him between Bluff and Waipapa. He had navigated the Manuka between Bluff and Dunedin from ten to twelve times. Alter leaving Waipapa,, lie set the courses usually set for a night trip. In the daytime, when visibility was good, he would set a course nearer land. At night he usually set a course about six degrees further out.* In his opinion that left a reasonable and propel margin of safety. Haying set those courses, lie had no reason to suspect danger, and lie said that, having regard to the fact that visibility was not less than a mile nil round. He took two hearings at Waipapa, and carried the first bearing on to the second bearing to get a fix. the usual

course in coastwise navigation. J lie courses given the Court were undoubtedly those set on the night of the wreck, and liad there keen no outwaid agency he should have maintained a course five miles from land. He could think of no internal agency that would cause the accident. He was satisfied that the courses were correctly _ set and correctly steered. He was thinking, when the ship struck, that he would pick up the Nuggets light, and considering that he had got a fixed position off Waipapa, he expected to pass five miles off Long Point. It was a prudent, safe course. Soundings Not Necessary. As he was running courses parallel with the coast and not toward it, lie did not think it necessary to take soundings. The line ,of soundings in the chart was irregular, and ranged from 29 to 4-1 fathoms, but there was nothing to show' in Tautuku Bay whether the depths were more less than those shown further out. There were no soundings less than miles fropi the centre of Tautuku Bay, and nothing nearer than two miles from Long Point. For all the chart showed;, there might he deep water all the way from Chaslands to Long Point; therefore, in his judgment, it was not necessary to take soundings. He had never heard the theory that the line of soundings nearest tiie coast was to be taken as a safety line. After the ship struck everything was done that could be done to save the lives of those on his ship, and every life was saved. The visibility of those in the boats could not have been less than a mile and-a-half. the lioats were using electric torches ns a means' of keeping together. He was actually the last man to leave the ship, but really five or six jumped together. He considered it prudent to wait till daylight to 'take the boats in, as they might have been dashed on the rocks. There was only one landing place in the vicinity, andl that was the one at which they landed, and it had to he found, in daylight. From the time he reached the bridge, everything h'e could think of was '"done to try to save the ship. Ho thought that by stopping the port onrriue the veshol would swing more quicklv. He kept the starboard engine going astern till she stuck hard. The vessel must have swung not less than three points, probably more, after stopping the port engine. Thev were not travelling in a fog, although there was a fog over the land. To Mr Adams, witness said ho could say that there was* fog over Long Point, but be could not say whether there was fog over any other part of the land. Had he been keening outside the 40 fathoms soundings, lie could not possibly have run on to the point, assuming, of course, that there were no soundings of 40 fathoms within the line of soundings on the chart. Evidence in corroboration of the captain’s statement was given by C. R. Carlyon 'Third officer) and Alex Aden /first officer). The inquiry was adjourned till this morning.