LAUNCH SINKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 104, 4 May 1929, Page 12

LAUNCH SINKS.

COLLISION IN HARBOUR. j HIT BY RANGITOTO. GREW SCRAMBLE ON BARGE. After colliding with the Northern Steamship Company's steamer Rangitoto shortly after 6 o'clock last evening, the launch Alert, which waa escorting a shingle barge, was sunk. The Alert was taking the empty barge from Freeman's Bay to Kawau, and was moored on the port side. She was struck oil the port side by the Rangitoto, which ■was coming back from Coromandel. The accident happened off Sandspit Beacon, just after the launch and barge had rounded Duder's Bank. The ferry steamer struck the launch on the port bow, partly cutting through the timber. No one was hurt. The men on the launch scrambled onto the barge before their own vessel sank. The barge was moored to mark the position of the wreck, and lights were displayed by Harbour Board officials to warn shipping. The sunken Alert was owned by Parry Brothers, shipping and towing agents. She was 32ft in length, with a beam of 9ft, and was engaged principally in towage work. She was not insured. The sunken launch was lifted 'by a barge this morning and beached on the eandspit. She was then made fast to the barge -and the two vessels were towed in to St. Mary's Bay by the Jumbo. The launch will later be put on the slip for repairs.