KOKIRI INQUIRY Reassurance For Officers

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30768, 4 June 1965, Page 3

KOKIRI INQUIRY Reassurance For Officers

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 3. The master and officers of the collier, Kokiri, will not lose their tickets or have them suspended. Mr J. A. Wicks, S.M., announced this today at the end of an eightday inquiry into an explosion which rocked the collier as it lay a jfew hundred yards off Aotea quay on March 13.

One seaman was killed instantly in the explosion. Another was lost overboard, presumed dead. Mr Wicks adjourned the case sine die, intimating it was unlikely a decision on the explosion, and subsequent recommendations, would be delivered in open court. He said it was more likely that after it was typed, copies would be available to all the ■interested parties. Mr Wicks said it had originally been his intention to spend this week perusing the transcripts of evidence and making his decision. However, because the inquiry had continued well into this week, that was not possible, he said. Mr Wicks told the court it was probable there could be

no decision before the end of this month. In his final submissions, Mr R. C. Savage, for the Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, said it could reasonably be stated the explosion was primarily caused by the high concentration of methane gas given off by the coal which had built up in the sealed hold. The likely sequence was that the gas had seeped through the trunkway door into the electrical equipment part of the masthead and the explosion had been precipitated by a spark from the contactor gear. Mr Savage said if this had been the case, then it was equally likely the explosion carried down into the hold and exploded with gas or coal dust there—or a combination of both. It also appeared abundantly clear from the evidence before the inquiry, said Mr Savage, that the portion of monobel (commercial explosive used frequently in coal mines) could be discounted as the cause of the explosion. Dealing with the coal aspect of the inquiry, Mr Savage said that again from the evidence given by experts on coal and its gas components, all coal was likely to give off gas to some degree. It was also abundantly clear from the evidence given by these experts, and from textbook evidence produced at the inquiry, that it was “es-

sential” coal must have surface ventilation, he said. The Kokiri was specifically designed for the coal trade, and consequently the design of the ventilators had been considered satisfactory and able to cope with the ventilation of coal or other cargo, said Mr Savage. Why then was it necessary for the ventilators to be plugged with wooden plugs and virtually rendered useless? he asked. Mr Savage said evidence had been given on numerous occasions by people who had been engaged in the coal trade on colliers that it was necessary to plug the ventilators for the safety of the ship—on the grounds that when the decks were awash it shipped water into the holds by way of the ventilators. It was therefore up to the Court to decide whether this permanent plugging was really needed. The real issue before the Court was the ventilator question, Mr Savage submitted. It was abundantly clear that if there was some ventilation then methane gas, which was lighter than air, would disperse and eliminate the danger of gas building up to dangerous proportions. Dealing with the electrical gear in the mast-house, Mr Savage said it was conceded it was a good standard. “But in view of the design of the ship, and the situation of the ventilators, the Court may well think it fit to recommend that the equipment be

moved or made flame-proof,” he said. Dealing with the type of coal, Mr Savage said it was clear from the evidence before the inquiry that the coal from Liverpool mine No. 3 gave off more gas than normal coal. The Kokiri at the time of the explosion had been carrying a combination of Dobson and Liverpool coal. But if one coal gave off more gas than another it would still make little difference if there was no ventilation from the hold, he said. As all types of coal gave off gas then a serious situation would still arise. It was possible, he said, that the Court might think it necessary in future for a certificate setting out the type of coal and its gas content to be issued to the shippers on loading. Dealing with the responsibility of the Union Steam Ship Company, owners of the Kokiri, Mr Savage said the fact the company knew and approved of plugging the ventilators made them in some way responsible for the explosion. It cast a duty on them to issue masters of their colliers some instructions on the ventilator problem. He suggested to Mr Wicks and the assessors that the company should pay the costs of the inquiry. Mr W. R. Birks, representing the Mines Department, said that the Department did not ask for costs.