SAFETY OF KAITUNA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1927, Page 5

SAFETY OF KAITUNA.

■SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS MADE. 1 j BUT LATER DISPROVED. j j CHARGES AGAINST CREW ! DISMISSED. i The twenty seamen on the Union ! Company's steamer Kaituna. which has ! been delayed at Auckland since February J 14. appeared at tiio Police (.'our; yesterI Jay afternoon, before Mr. \V. R. McKean. I S.M.. charged with failing, without reasonalile cause, to proceed to sea on I hi vessel. Mr. liiigiuiU appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Vallanee for all tiic ni«-n. who pleaded not guilty. Mr. Ha l: nail said the charges were laid under the Shipping and Seamen* Act. The new articles were signed on February 14 and the ship was to sail at ."> p.m. on that dale. A few minutes before ."> p.m. llie secretary of the Seamen's I'nion called on the captain and said that the Kahuna was not seaworthy. The men, he said, would not sail until they received the Mini-Tor of Marine's assurance that the ship waseaworthy. The ship touched bottom in January at Tauranga, and was afterwards placed in dry dock and surveyed. The Kailuna was quite seaworthy. Suggestion of Inquiry. Mr. Vallance said lie might lie able to shorten the proceedings by admitting that the men refused to take the Kaituna to ecu 1 alleging that slip was uot tH'aworthy. The details of the evidence of men who worked on ;he siiip wore nol known jo tlie crew, and counsel si;::posted that au inquiry might be held. The question of the vessel's alleged 11:1sca wort hi nets was first raited by the persons engaged on repairing the \cs-el and l.v Mr. M. J. Savage, M.1 , . The Minister had promi-ed to hold an inquiry, but subsequently intimated liut he would rely on ihc certificate issued. Mr. .MeKean told Mr. Vallanoe that lie would have to have some strong evidence and £ood grounds before he would order an inquiry. Mr. Vallance said that the witnwsewould prefer giving evidence before an inquiry. Counsel thought thai the Court could call the witnewse.*. Evidence of Boilermakers. Wilfrid White. member of the crew, said he was on the Kailuna when she grounded and knew the.condition olj No. 1 and 4 holds' tanks. The pump* could not cope with the water in the tank. He was told by a boilcrmaker that only one plate was repaired. There was ahvhye water in the tanks and the bilge* were never touched even when the Kai-! tuna went ashore. George Struthrro, a boilcrmaker of 30 years' experience, who hold* an English second-class certiticate in naval architecture, said he worked on the Kaituna in dry dock. There was a dent two-thirds of the ship's lenjrth on both sides. Thin affected the floors, frame and intercostal plaice. There was little done to this with the exception of the taking out of a few ribs which were renewed. The keel plate was fractured, but only one plate was renewed. Some of the plates were taken out and straightened to lit the new keel plate. The intcrcoastals were to be re-rivetted without straightening, if possible. On account of the frames being bent over they could not be screwed up tightly. Tliev were t-. do the job as quickly as possible a::d as cheap ai* prvs«-il>le. In some cases one. and in otliere, two, intercoetala were affected. In his opinion the plates should have been taken off the bottom and the shell plates should have been replaced where damaged. Also, the frames should have been taken off and straightened, the likewise. Thie was not done, and in his opinion this would affect the seaworthiness of tiie Kaituna. The way the damage was repaired would 1 have a tendency to weaken the resistance of the ship and she might possibly break her back in rough weather. "I would not go to wa in her.' , concluded witne«v. The next witness irae a boilermaker of 25 year* , experience, G. Rabe. who eaid iie was foreman on the Kaituna during the time when repairs were being carried out. He agreed with the evidence given by the previous witness. There were seven plates to be renewed, but witness had taken it upon himeelf to renew thirty plates. Some were 60 badly bent that it was impossible to get rivets in the shell. There were dozens of plates I in the Kaituna at present which were I worse than those taken out. That was the condition of the ship when she left dry dock. What was done did not constitute a fair job. The plates should have I been strengthened. The bent plates were not supported or straightened and were liable to "work" in a heavy sea. They would "work' , like a concertina. Wit- i ness thought that the matter was suf-' ficiently serious to warrant his taking' some stops. He would not sail in the! ship. Mr. Bagnall: You are foreman for the Senior Foundry?— Yes. Did you tell your firm, or complain about the work?— Yes, I did, I told Mr. Clare and I got a shake-up, too. for doinp the extra work. Similar evidence was given by another boilermaker. i Mr. Vallance then intim.i;,\] th.it he' could call a dozen more men who would give similar evidence. j Allegations Disproved. Roger Morrison, foreman shipwright for 11 years with the Union Steamshipj Company, said supervision of repairs of 1 ships was part of his duty. Tli C Kai- ! tuna was in Calliope Dock on IS working days. Witness was contintmuslv on the job supervising and Mr. Watson" was 1 frequently on the job. The Union Com-'

j panv prepared the r >eciaca:Joce. Ali [the repairs were effected and the defects i made good. When lbe ship was linis-ied Messrs. Alexander and \Vat«-on went on ', h-jard and instituted the Llord's test (which \va* a severe ii>; and the Mine las carried out >n a new vessel). T>c j vessel was in a thoroughly seaworthy I condition. \\ ith the exception ••:' iStruihers. tlie wi'ncsscs were n <: comI petent to pa*s judgment on tic work. j The indentation described by Siruthc:- as six inches was on'.y |wo incites. All defect*, in the lore and ait intercostal*. «ere made ;;.«od. All . ;v, -ting wa* d«»ne in a proper workmanlike manner, j There was no ;.,.--;':-;,. danger that tie I r;\i-: - would shear oil. All in;rrc«-:als in the chip were straight and not .n-n:. and 'an inspection by -i marine surveyor would eonurm that. The surveyor of »iijp«s Mr. Alexander, u- often on the \.*-ci and would see if u« intercostal* were '.•en; or the rivet: in£ n. : done properly I New gusset* were substituted i.>r old one- taken out. Witness n itild c« to t-ea ;in ;he heat. I The surveyor of * iirs for the Mar.ne ; Department at Auckland, .lamer. Voting I Alexander, was then railed. He a-recj j with Morrison that it was .juite all right Jto leave the. dent ar. i; was. He ha i i asked the Boilermakers' I'nion to mane specific charg<*s and was informed that I they would he willing to ;•>(• <-> idenre .before a court of inquiry, hut would put •nothing in writing. He could no: M i 2. gest any reason why the hoiJcrmakct - ■ s.iould make such allegations. Further evidence jn support of :hc j statement that the Kahuna nj< M>aj worthy was then tendered. i Mr. McKean said when he heard the I hoilermakers' evidence he thought tha: j there might he some cause for alarm, hut after hearing the other witnesses, he was of the opinion that the crew had no ground* to fear for the safety, lie did not intend to order another sur- j vey. It was significant that the Boilermakers' I'nion would n ,.t make ami statement in writing. They were entirely I to blame for the trouble that, had arisen] and it was to be regretted that ihev made statements that caused so roach ' alarm. Tiio ca<e was not one whica! called for the imposition of penalties on j the members oi the crew a* ther possibly ' had some grounds for fear. Permission' was given for the charges against the crew to be withdrawn.