Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

LOSS OF SCOW.

! FOUNDERED AT SEA. CASE OF THE KAIAIA. & NAUTICAL INQUIRY OPENS. HOW CREW REACHED SHORE. An inquiry into the sinking of the 35ton auxiliary scow Kaiaia, commanded by Captain H. S. Aspden, near Mercury Bay, in the Bay of Plenty, 011 March 25, was opened in the Magistrate's Court this morning before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., with whom were associated as assessors Captain D. Bell, Captain E. W. Xorton and Mr. E. 11. Lane. Mr. Y. X. Hubble, representing the Crown, said that the Kaiaia left Auckland on March 24 at 11.45 a.m. for Tauranga and Bay of Plenty ports, and foundered the following morning in the Bay of Plenty. Mr. Hubble said that evidence would be called to show that the vessel had been surveyed in December, I!>;S5, and the owners had then instructed shipbuilding firms to carry out a thorough overhaul of the hull and install ventilators so that benzine could lie carried in the hold. Since then, the Kaiaia had been only once loaded "011 the hard." The Minister of Marine desired to know the cause of the foundering. Captain's Evidence. / The first witness was the master of the vessel, Captain H. S. Aspden, who said that the vessel was owned by the Aspden Shipping Company. When she left Auckland at 11.45 a.m. 011 March 24, she was carrying about 20 tons of general cargo, and 85 drums of benzine, of which 30 were on deck. The draught was 3ft Sin forward, and 4ft 2in aft, and the load line was about Sin clear. The crew consisted of master, engineer, able seaman, ordinary seaman and boy. Cape Colville was rounded about C p.m. The Wind was then fair, and the vessel was under sail, with her engines running. He went below at midnight, after taking off the jib, as the wind was rising, and at 2.30 a.m. was called again by the engineer, as the wind was blowing harder from the south-east, with a rising sea. As the weather was getting thick, he set a course out to sea. Two Men Overboard. At 4 a.m. the engineer tried the engineroom pump, and reported that the hold and bilges were free of water, but half an hoar later, when the fore-sheet was eased during a heavy squall, the vessel still showed a decided list, indicating a leak. He put her about 011 the other tack, the engine-room pump, driven by the engine, was started, and the two deck pumps were manned, while the vessel was headed for Mercury Bay. The source of the leak could not be located, but he considered, from the fact that she was settling down by the bows, ihat it was either in the hold or forward. By 5.30 a.m. the ship was so far down by the head as to be unmanageable, and he gave orders to abandon the ship.

"The engineer stopped one engine, but could not stop the other," stated Captain Aspden. "We left that running and tlie engineer, one of tlie crew and myself lowered the lifeboat, which hung from davits over the stern. The other two members of the crew had been Hashed overboard. We had some difficulty with the boat, which caught on the rudder. We eventually got it clear, and then picked up the two members of the crew who were in the sea. The scow soon afterwards sank by the head, in 35 fathoms of water. We were then about li miles south of Castle Rock." Tlie master said that he was a shareholder in the company, owning the vessel, and knew that the vessel was not insured. He said that, through an oversight 011 his part, the deck cargo had not been inspected, as it should have been, but he had 110 trouble with it. Logs in Bay of Plenty. In answer to Mr. Gould, who appeared for the owners, Captain Aspden said, that he knew, from his own observations and from reports of other seamen, that, following the severe storm in February, there were at that time a large number of logs in the Bay of Plenty. It was possible for the vessel to strike a log without tlie shock being noticed, owing to the pounding of the seas, and, having regard to the rapidity with which she made water, he believed that was what happened. The ship was well found and fully manned. He estimated the loss to the company at not less than £1500. The cross-examination of Captain Aspden by Mr. Walsh, who appeared for the Seamen's Union, was interrupted by the magistrate, who asked liim not to retrace evidence already given. Mr. Walsh went 011 to ask Captain Aspden questions concerning the construction of the ship. He stated that there was no booby-hatch or watertight compartment forward, although the fore-

! peak was shut off by a light partition to reduce the internal measurement of the ship. There was 110 sounding-well into the hold, but the hold could be soimdetl by the pumps. The centreboard. which was rarely used, was up. The deck cargo was stowed, 15 drums 011 each side of the hatch, from the forward rigging to the main rigging. When he came 011 deck at 4.30 a.m. the deck cargo and hatch covers were secure. Normally the vessel leaked very little. "The general cargo included flour, sugar. beer . . ." stated Captain Aspden. "How much beer did vou have?" asked Mr." Walsh. "It's not how much beer he had. but how much beer the ship had," suggested Mr. Gould. Although the hold was not full there was not room in it for the deck cargo. It was not his custom to leave without having his deck cargo inspected, hut he had done it before. The Marine Department had taken 110 action against him. He had'never taken aboard additional cargo after inspection. In answer to Mr. Hubble Captain Aspden said that he did not go into the hold to look for the leak because if the hold were opened the perishable cargo would get wet.

The account of the foundering of the Kaiaia given by Douglas Boyce Stubbs, engineer of the vessel, was similar to that of the master. He stated that when he tested the engineroom pump at 2 a.m. the pump was left running. At 3 a.m., being down in the engineroom, he changed over the pump to the other bilge, but there was no water in it. At 4 a.m. he again changed pump. Vessel Heeled Over. "When the vessel heeled over to port in the squall the master told me to ease the foresheet, and when she did not respond he called out that there was water in her," said witness. "He called the crew to man the pump, and I went to the engineroom. The pump there was 011 the port bilge and working at full pressure, but there was 110 \, ater in the engineroom. which has a watertight bulkhead forward." He said that later tho engines began to race ywing to the stern lifting. He shut off the starboard engine, but while he was trying to shut off the other engine water poured down the companion. "I was washed under the ladder but hung 011 to it," he said. "When that wave passed, I scrambled out." He said that the deck cargo did not break loose until the boat was awash. It was quite possible, lie said, that striking a log,would not be noticed, as the vessel was "punching into" the seas. The engine room pump had a capacity of 1000 gallons of water an hour and the two deck ones a combined capacity of about 1500 gallons an hour. To Mr. Walsh the engineer said that he had 110 authority under his Marine Department certificate to take a watch 011 deck, but he abided by tho instructions of the owner to do so. As a home trade vessel, the Kaiaia could go as far as the Bluff. He had had 110 serious trouble with the engines, one of which was 24 li.p. and the other 30 h.p. The deck pumps were just forward of the engine room, but when the vessel was down bv the head the water would still rush aft when the liows lifted on a sea and would then l>e raised by the pumps. All courses were set by the master, he stated, but it was left to the helmsman to alter the course if it brought the ship too near land. He did not remember what course he was given when lie took the wheel, or what the course was when he called the master, but he could dimly see the land and knew where the vessel was. The Court then adjourned until this afternoon. „

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19360615.2.94

Bibliographic details

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 8

Word Count
1,456

LOSS OF SCOW. Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 8

LOSS OF SCOW. Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 8