LOSS OF RANGI.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1937, Page 11

LOSS OF RANGI.

FURTHER EVIDENCE.

"EXHIBITS- WANTED.

CONDITION OF FASTENINGS.

ADJOURNMENT HOT GRANTED.

Stressing the importance to the Court Of ascertaining definitely the condition of the iron fastenings of the vessel, Mr. X. A. Foden, of Wellington, who is representing the Marine Department at the marine inquiry into the loss of the scow Rangi on January 14, suggested to the Court this morning that the inquiry should be adjourned pending a further examination of the vessel. The chairman, Mr W. R. McKean, S.M., decided to hear further evidence first.

i ?■ R McKe * n » S -M>, is presiding, and the assessor are Captains G. Sorensen and F. R. G. Jenson and Mr T. F. Anderson. The proceedings are being conducted on behalf of the Marine Department by Mr. N. A. Foden, of Wellington. The owners of the scow, the Leyland-O'Brien Timber Company Ltd are represented by Mr. Moody, the Scow i ne i"v i ßsociati °n by Mr. Goulding, and the Federated Seamen's Union of >ew Zealand by the president, Mr F P Walsh.

Mi. Foden etated that the Department attached a great deal of importance to ''the condition of the bolts in the vessel, and had not had a chance to examine them individually. The sample one submitted to the Court was etated to be one of the worst The Department could not contradict the evidence of the witness Home, who said that the bolts were badly corroded, as the Department's officers "had examined the hull before it had opened up, as described by Home. "The theory is that the condition of the bolts wae directly responsible for the vessel's sinking and also that the survey had b * e li. l he said - "" that h «s own eo. the Court will want to know why. We admit that the bolts were not inspected. Their condition is important. m view of the fact that the condition or the fastenings in other ecowe of the same age may be presumed to be similar. The Department therefore asked for an adjournment so that the whole of the bolte along one side may be taken out and examined. This would be in the Best interests of all parties, including the owners, who. it was admitted, had done all they had been asked to do." r - Evidence Reviewed. Mr.McKean said that he agreed that Horne'e evidence made euch a course desirable, and suggested that the Department also should* call expert evidence on the condition of the iron fastenings recovered. "It hae been established that there was a quantity of water in the Raixn before she capsized," said Mr. MeKean. "It has also been established that the water that could enter through the cabin doore, whilst these were closed would be negligible, and that the doors were kept closed. The suggestion of the tost witness that corrosion weakened tjie vessel, causing her to open up, makes ™ ,e l co » rs e suggested by Mr. Foden very desirable. J .After an examination, Mr. Foden mated, the Department would call expert evidence on the stresses that the fastenings would be called on to bear, and whether they could do eo. The Department had not eo far been able to dismantle the wreck to obtain the bolts •a it wae stiU the owners' property! and he would ask the owners' penniseion for the Department to cut out the bolts. TBese would "speak for themselves." "We consider that the case is all in our favour," remarked Mr. Moody. "It has been shown thaj; the owners have never been niggardly in their upkeep of the vessel. But I think we should complete the evidence before the proposed inspection. The owners are quite willing to grant the permission asked for by the Department. They are willing to do all they can to assist the Department." Department's Duty. "Thjs court is appointed to inquire into the loss of a single vessel, and 1 do not think it is competent to make any general finding as to the survey of , ehips," said Mr. Cfoulding. "I hold! with Mr. Moody that the evidence should be gone on with. If such a suggestion as that made by the last witness yesterday, that the sheathing of scows should be stripped for overhaul, the scow-owners are vitally concerned and would protest vigorously against any suggestion in the finding of the court that because one scow was in bad condition all are." Mr. Foden intimated that the surveyors who examined the vessel would be called to give evidence, but he thought that the production of the bolts themselves would obviate this. Strong exception to the course proposed by Mr. Foden was raised by Mr. VValth, who suggested that the failure of the Marine Department to call its experts suggested lack of confidence in them. One of the questions to be answered by the inquiry was: "Was the method of survey satisfactory?" and it should be answered by the Department. If not, the Department would be "running away from ite job." The chairman having announced the decision of the court to hear the evidence, William LiDisay Home reentered the box. He said that the weakening of the perpendicular bolts would throw greater stress on the straps or "knees," and these, being corroded, would break under a heavy strain, with the result that the vessel would open up. Witness Cross-examined. During a lengthy cross-examination by Mr. Goulding, witness said that he was of opinion that the iron fastenings in the Fangi bad deteriorated to such a degree that she had been in a dangerous condition for some time. Even so, he would not expect her to leak seriously until the fastenings snapped under the strain of heavy weather. Witness said he was not prepared to offer an opinion as to when a scow should be overhauled. "These perpendicular bolts are the essential part of the construction in holding the sides together," continued witness. "The majority of the perpendicular bolts on the port side of the Bangi were visible. I did not examine them all from top to bottom. Some of them had corroded to the thickness of a pencil. I would say they had «*orioH<hl enough to be unsatisfactory." To Mr. Moody witness said the timber of the Rangi was in remarkable order considering her aee. It was a possibility, t'lat the Rangi struck something on the night of the storm which caused the : lanking to open up.

Shipbuilder Surprised. Evidence of having examined the wreck ot the Rangi iu company with the P'f,V ous Wltn<? ss was given" by Murdoch ttjlliam McQuarrie, shipwright, who agreed with Home in stating that the majority of the iron fastenings were corroded. In answer to Mr. Goulding, witness said that, after seeing the state of corrosion of the fastenings of the Ran«i he was surprised by the small amount of fastening that had held her together He considered that she was luckv to have avoided mishap so long. Witness said that he would have expected from the condition of the fastenings that the Rangi would leak though not necessarily to anv »reat extent. He agreed with counsel *that Captain Petersen was a careful master, and he would not expect him to go to sea in a vessel that he knew to be unseaworthy. Witness "would not agree with Mr. Moody that the master of the vessel had a free hand" to keep her in good repair Such requirements had to be referred to the owners. In reply to Mr. Moody's suggestion that even a new vessel nii«ht be expected to spring a leak in the storm of January 14. witness said that he did not think so, if she were well built and well found. He agreed that the hull might have been further etrained in being towed to Campbell's Bay bv the tug. Asked if he did not think that the Rangi might have struck a submerged object, witness said that he «aw no mark that would suggest that that had happened. Degree of Corrosion. The senior surveyor of ship* at Auckland. John William Townsend. said he vieited the wreck of the Rangi two days before the previous witness. He said the seams were not then open. Ir. his opinion the fastenings were not as corroded as the previous witnesses said. Only one could be broken off bv blows of a hammer. Witneee said that he considered that perpendicular fastenings in scows were good until they fractured. Even though they were eorrocred down to half their thicknes, say, half an inch, they etill did a certain amount of work and there J was no great tensile strain on them. His inspection of the vessel on the beach ! later revealed a chafing of the belting. as if it had rested on rock, witneee stated, in answer to Mr. Walsh. He said that the hull wae badly strained' and the fastenings drawn, which might have been expected, in view of the heavy seas the vessel had encountered. (Proceeding.)