FOUNDERED SCOW

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 141, 16 June 1936, Page 5

FOUNDERED SCOW

INQUIRY CONCLUDED. SEAWORTHINESS QUESTION. SEAMEN'S UNION'S VIEWS. After evidence had been heard yesterday afternoon at the nautical inquiry into the foundering of the scow Kaiaia in the Bay of Plenty on March 25, Mr. F. P. Walsh, on behalf of the Seamen's Union, appealed to the Court to ask the Government for a full inquiry into the seaworthiness of this type of vessel. Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., presided at the inquiry, and the assessors were Captain D. Bell, Captain E. W. Norton and Mr. E. R. Lane. The magistrate announced that the Court would forward its finding in writing to the Minister of Marine, the Hon. P. Fraser. During the hearing yesterday afternoon, William Brown, master mariner, and a shipwright for the past 13 years, said that when the Kaiaia was put 011 the slip for overhaul last December there was a slight leak in the bottom, forward. The skipping of the sheathing on the port side from the stem 30ft aft revealed one place needing caulking. On the starboard side two planks were loose from the stem. These and three other planks were refastened. The stem was stripped, found to be' sound, and was resheathed. After her overhaul the scow was, lie considered, in good order. The hull was tested by playing a hose on the inside and no leaks were revealed. The shaftblock was also reinforced. Another shipwright who had worked on the overhaul of the ship, Emel Willielm Mattsen, said that in his opinion the hull of the vessel was quite sound.

The shipwright who installed the ventilators, S. B. Williams, said that as far as he knew this work was ordered to be done by the Marine Department. Inspector of Lifebelts. Captain Leonard Robertson, surveyor of ships at Auckland for the past eight years, said that lie surveyed the Kaiaia from November 29 to December 4. Masts, rigging, boats, equipment and lifesaving were in his province. During the survey, he examined only four lifejackets, as the vessel tlien carried only four of a crew. The vessel may have carried more. To Mr. Walsh, witness said that he did not necessarily examine all the lifebelts. On passenger vessels, he would, but in cargo vessels he would not. "If a seaman happens to pick up, in an emergency, a lifebelt you have not inspected and it is defective, that's just his bad luck, then?" suggested Mr. Walsh.

"Not at all," stated witness. "We see that there is a lifebelt for every man, but there may be many more aboard not included in her equipment. Each man has one put under his pillow." "If a witness says that in many years' experience at sea he has never had a lifebelt under his pilow, you would call liim a liar?" asked Mr. Walsh. "I would call him more than that," retorted witness. "Then I would like to step into the witness box for five seconds to say so," remarked Mr. Walsh. ".Or I would like this Court to adjourn while we went down aboard any ship in port." "I think you would fall in," Captain Robertson replied. Asked t>v Air. Walsh whether lie thought such a ship should have a certificate entitling her to trade, say, between Auckland and the West Coast of the South Island, Captain Robertson suggested that tlie question was outside the scope of the inquiry. With this view the magistrate concur, red. "The object of this inquiry is not to ascertain whether the legislation in regard to vessels of this type should be amended, but what caused this vessel to founder," he remarked. "I was hoping if the evidence I have been seeking was given, that some recommendation would go forward from this Court to the Government," stated Mr. Walsh. Captain Robertson remarked that lie considered vessels of the Kaiaia's type were quite suited for powerful engines and for long sea voyages. "After all, Te Rauparalia made some pretty long voyages without even a home trade certificate," remarked Mr. Wilson. John G. Lockie, surveyor of ships, said that the Kaiaia's hull was sound. The only watertight bulkhead was the one immediately forward of the engine room. The engine room pump drew water both from the engine room and the hold beyond the bulkhead. To Mr. Walsh, witness said that he considered that tlie Kaiaia was a fit vessel for a home trade certificate, entitling her to trade as far as Bluif or the West Coast. Witness said that the | master was mistaken if lie said there i was a partition in the fore peak. He J had never sailed in a vessel of "-the; Kaiaia's type.

Although no evidence of the vessel's striking any object had been given, lie could not think of any other treason why she should sink. He did not think that driving her against a head sea would start a plank. Properly constructed ventilators would not, he thought, make the vessel any less seaworthy. He had never seen one broken off.

Appeal for Inquiry. "The whole of the evidence goes to show that the vessel's strength was not sufficient to encounter the strains put upon her," declared Mr. Walsh. "She was not suited for powerful engines. Leaving Auckland, she was not overloaded, and the weather she encountered was nothing abnormal. There is no evidence that she struck any object, but on the contrary, her speed when she sprang a leak was Only about three knots, and at that speed she would not be seriously damaged by collision with a log. The only assumption possible is that she opened up through being driven by powerful engines against a rough sea."

Drawing attention to the captain's admission that tlie Kaiaia left Auckland without having her deck cargo inspected, Mr. Walsh said that this showed that this class of vessel was breaking the law, and the fact that the Marine Department had not prosecuted suggested that the Department's officers were winking at it. "Our men feel that unless something; is done to protect the crews, these coffin ships will have more disasters, with loss of life," stated Mr. Walsh. "In this case, the lifeboat was carried in an unsuitable place, in addition to the fact that, having been built to have a light auxiliary engine in her, two powerful ones, for which her hull was not strong enough, had been installed about four years ago. It is, we think, the duty of the Court to ask for a full inquiry into the seaworthiness of vessels of this type, converted from sail to power propulsion, and the question of their measurement, because we feel that the regulations in this respect are not being observed."