THE WELLINGTON-MACGREGOR INQUIRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 122, 1 June 1885, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON-MAC-GREGOR INQUIRY.

Mate of tho Wellington's Certificate Suspended,

At 10.30 this morning Mr H. 0. SeliSmith, R.M..delivered the judgment of the?' Court upon the inquiry into the collision'! between the steamers Wellington and; Macgregor off the island of Kawau.. The judgment was as follows:—! We are of opinion that the masters of both ; ships are free from blame, and their certificates will be returned. We are also of * opinion that the mate of the Macgregor followed the rule of the road, and therefore is to be exonerated from blame. We think he ought to have been able to see thomasthead light of the Wellington at an earlier period than after passing the Nelson Rock, buthis 1 failing to doso in no way contributed tothe. casualty. He appears to have seen the? Wellington side lights in ample time,■and' was fully justified importing his helm. I We^ think, also, that no blame can be attaohod to the engineer of the Macgregor, and, in] our opinion, a telegraph to the engine roomi would not have given any additional assistance in avoiding a collision. The evidence' of the witnessesfrom theMacgregor seems to usto be substantially accurate. 'We place small value upon the various estimates of 1 time given by the witnesses at the different stages of the period over which this "in--quiry extends. The difficulty of estimatiig time accurately, or even with approximate accuracy, especially when the attention is;; directed to other matters is well known,.' and sufficiently accounts for the discrepances between the several witnesses, ''Mi appears that the Macgregor after steering. a S. J B. course towards the Nelson Book,!'. altored her course to S. £ W. on rounding: the rock, the rock being about qnarterl of a mile distant, and soon afterwards to the S.SW. From this pos_> tion _ vessel steering N. or N. _ W. as the ; Wellington was, wouid show both side *■>_ lights to the Macgregor, and the-1 porting of the helm would be a pro<; per action on the part of the Maogregor. Wo think the estimate of distance (about half-a-mile) given by the mates and master of tho Maogregor as the ais.v tance between the two vessels when the; order was givon to port, is more in accord;!!; anco with tho other ascertained facts of the. case than tho smaller estimate (cix or seven ships' lengths 6x1.0 - 1,080 feet - S6O or 7xlßo = 1260 feet - 420 i.e., something less than a quarter of a mile), given by the mate of the Wellington. The; effect of porting the Macgregor- helm, as! seen from the Wellington, would be ulliy mately to show the Macgregor's red lighV* though we think her red light must haveboon visible to the Wellington at an earlierperiod, and therefore at a greater distance than is alleged by the mate of the Welling-| ton. If the mate is correct in stating that he continued to see the green light of the Macgregor until the vessels were l.Mj'; than a quarter of a mile apart, the Wellington's lights must have been visible: to the Macgregor on tho starboard boW, pr.i eke one or both of the vessels must have been considerably out of her course.; Wer see no reason, however, for rejecting the j evidence of the Macgregor that the Wel-; liugton was on her port-bo x, and therefore.. come to tho conclusion that at some tinio both of the Macgregor's lights were visible}: to the Wellington, and ultimately the red light alone, and that in all probability at a distance sufficient to avoid all danger if the Wellington had been properly Tundledy One of the Nautical Assessors has prepared a diagram shewing the relative positions of the vessels according to the different state-? ments of the witnesses, which leads, inevitably to my mind to this conclusion.. We are of opinion that the mate of the.! Wellington is substantially axurate in bisy evidence as to the order of events, via.,•;•• that he saw first the masthead-light of the . Macgregor, then the green light—whether so much on the starboard bow as # .he„ alleges Eeems doubtful; if it were 1_ points t on the bow it is difficult to see any reason,; for starboarding J point—and ultimately the red light, and that he then, or soon $ after, put his helm bard-a-starboard; but ■: we place no value upon bis estimate of time. We think starboarding his he'min the circumstances was an error on his parti * It seems to us, in fact, the one course of conduct most likely to bring about a colli^j sion. Even assuming his estimate of the-; distance between the two vessels when the Macgregorahowedher redlightto becorrect, we think a collision might have-been avoidedv, by proper precautions. Had he stopped^ the engines without altering the helm the - Macgregot might have gone across his bows.; Had he stopped and gone full speed astern - the chance of her doing so would have been materially increased. If in addition to that he had ported his helm, we think it JM almost morally certain that the ships wonjd havo gone clear. Ttte effect of starboard-..; ing, on the contrary, was that the Wei*" Hngton followed the Macgregor up when -« the latter vessel was under a port helm, and thus a collision was rendered inevitable.,: The result, therefore, is that in onr opinion tho mate of the Wellington was in aefauir': (1) in not stopping and reversing his engine; (2) in not porting instead of starboarding his helm, and fiat the collision came about solely inconsequence of his default certificate will be suspended for" three : months,