BILGES SCARRED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 158, 7 July 1939, Page 9

BILGES SCARRED.

MOTOR VESSEL TOA. TOWED BACK TO AUCKLAND. PORT SIDE BADLY SCRATCHED. Badly scarred along tho bilges, on which she apparently rolled heavily when stranded in the shallow water covering the bar of the Whakatane River, the Northern Steamship Company's motor vessel Toa, towed by another of the company's fleet, the motor vessel Ranginui,y limped up the' harbour in 4he early hours of this morning and was moored at the Northern wharf until dawn, when she was taken around to the shipbuilding yards in Freeman's Bay.

There the vessel was hauled up on the slipway of Shipbuilders, Limited, for examination. This afternoon workmen started the work of pulling away the inner lining of the holds. Until this lias been completed it is impossible to ascertain the exact damage suffered bv the hull.

From the outside, damage on the starboard . side appeared negligible, for the planking had been torn away only in three areas about two yardß long. On the port bilge, however, the outer skin was torn away for practically the whole length of the hull.

' Weighing about 210 tons, the Toa is fairly flat-bottomed and this probably accounted for the points of damage. Stranded on the Whakatane bar at 6.15 a.m. last Friday, the vessel was not floated off until the afternoon tide, and ,during that time she must have rolled heavily on the bilges, particularly on the port side, which showed much greater evidence of damage than the starboard. One blade of the twin propellers was broken off while the vessel was on the bar.

After a cursory examination at Whalcatana it was found, that the vessel was making little, water, and/ it was therefore decided that she should be towed back to Auckland.. The job was started by the' motor vessel ; otißMs> on Wednesday, but touch heavy weather was met hear Cape Colville —the entrance to the Hauraki Gulf—tljat the boats returned 20 miles ~t<l the shelter of < Ken nedy's Bay, on the far side of mandel Peninsula. The Otimai continued on -46 < Auckland, leaving the damaged vessel to be picked up ywterday by the Ranganui, which ia- on. the regular Tauranga-AucUand m . The enct amount of the damage will probably be aecertain*d.by, the weekend.