RANGATIRA BACK IN SERVICE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29088, 28 December 1959, Page 8

RANGATIRA BACK IN SERVICE

No Damage To Ship By Stranding (New Zealand Press Association) BLENHEIM, December 27. The Union Steam Ship Company’s 6152ton inter-island steamer Rangatira was refloated—undamaged—by two tugs at 4.25 a.m. yesterday. The ship went aground on Wheke Rocks, just inside the entrance to Tory Channel, at 2 a.m. on Christmas Day.

The ship has resumed her normal service and tonight she carried 260 passengers and 60 cars from Picton to Wellington.

The Rangatira was refloated by the Union Company’s tugs Tapuhi and Taioma, assisted by other small craft.

An earlier attempt to pull the vessel free, made by the Tapuhi, succeeded only in swinging the stern of the ship about a chain out from the shore, but she was still held hard and fast amidships.

The second, and successful, attempt by the tugs lasted for an hour and a half before the Rangatira suddenly slid back into deep water.

Divers who examined the Rangatira when she reached Picton found her hull undamaged and Marine Department and Union Company officials decided she could resume her normal service. The ship had almost stopped when she struck Wheke Rocks. She slid gently on to the flat rock shelf, and lay on an even keel, with her bow in a cavity.

The refloating of the Rangatira was a moment of triumph for the crews of the tugs, Tapuhi and Taioma, the whaling mother ship Tuatea and the Rangatira, who for an hour and a half had been working in darkness, under intense strain, to free the vessel. From 3 a.m., under a bright night sky, with ships’ lights the only other illumination, the men and vessels toiled, spurred on by anxiety for the trapped steamer. The tiny tugs heaved and strained and pulled under radioed directions from Captain A. C. Crossie, the Union Steam Ship Company’s chief marine superintendent, who was aboard the Rangatira.

Captain Crossie said the Rangatira had come off the rocks at the top of the tide. The extra horsepower from the additional tug had been necessary, as there had not been much assistance from the tide.

The pull was so arranged as to give a rocking effect, and the vessel slid off, using her own engines to supplement the pull by the two tugs, with a sudden rush.

Captain Crossie said yesterday that the ship’s forward ballast tanks in the double skin had been examined by the ship’s chief engineer, the naval architect, Lloyd’s architect, and Marine Department officials. No damage had been found. Divers who examined the ship at Picton made a similar report. Refloating Described

“We hardly noticed the lack of sleep,” said Captain A. L. Olsson, the master of the Tapuhi, which left Wellington at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day. “The anxiety of the whole thing kept us going. The Rangatira was rolling slightly and we didn’t know just how hard she was stuck. “There was only two to three feet rise and fall of the tide where the Rangatira was held—this left little to come and go on. “It was not till the peak of the tide that we moved her. Without any warning she just slid off.” The Rangatira then had to keep going full power ahead out into the deep water, where she was turned around.

Mr C. T. Perano, master of the Tuatea, was as pleased as any to see the Rangatira freed. His vessel had made the first attempt to refloat the steamer not long after she struck the flat Wheke Rocks at 2.30 a.m. on Christmas Day. With the help of the Cachalot and the Sea Raider, and the tender Enterprise, the Tuatea at 5.55 a.m. on Christmas Day made two attempts. The first one ended with a broken rope and the second was defeated by the tide. “We had two rope's attached to her stern. We pulled with the Tapuhi on one and the Taioma on the other,” said a tired Mr Perano. “We pulled for over an hour—then off she came.” Captain W. A. McGarry, master of the Taioma, which was recommissioned while undergoing a survey, was another tired man. It had not been the best, working with ships lights only, he said. He had nothing but praise for the men who assisted in shifting the Rangatira. Everything had gone smoothly and everybody had been “very, very pleased’’ when she moved.

The Rangatira went straight to her berth when she reached Picton.

Only a few of the crew members were at the rails. Most showed evidence of having had little sleep. While the ship was stranded it was not possible to cook a meal because of the need to conserve steam and fuel as a precautionary measure. A start was made at midnight on Friday with unloading of the first of the 61 cars on the Rangatira into two punts which had been towed down to Tory Channel from Picton.

Twelve cars were brought from the ship before further unloading had to cease to allow the tugs to come alongside. These cars were unloaded at Picton at five o’clock on Saturday morning. The remaining cars were unloaded as soon as the Rangatira berthed at 7.50 a.m. They were all on the wharf by 9 a.m. and most of them had been collected by their owners. The entire organisation by the Union Company was the subject of much favourable comment from many passengers. Scores were spoken to by reporters and not one had anything but praise for the efforts of the company’s officers in Picton and at Blenheim to help them out of their difficulties.

The company itself found ready assistance from the well-known Perano whaling family. Mr Gilbert Perano and his brother, Joe, were on the scene shortly after the grounding with the whalechasers Catchalot and Sea Raider 11, and it is unlikely that either had any sleep until the ship was refloated and on her way to Picton.

The Rangatira’s departure from Picton on schedule at 6 p.m. today was quiet and uneventful. There were 260 passengers and 60 cars aboard—a fairly light sailing as far as passengers are concerned, but Union Company officials said today that no more than the usual number of cancellations had been received. The car load was close to the ship’s maximum.

About 150 persons were on the wharf to see the Rangatira sail. The ship was quickly on its way down Queen Charlotte Sound and appeared to be travelling at normal speed.