Water On Vehicle Deck Not Reported

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31729, 12 July 1968, Page 20

Water On Vehicle Deck Not Reported

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 11. The marine superintendent of the Union Steam Ship Company said today at the Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Wahine that he became concerned about the ship’s stability when the ship requested pumps at 12.30 p.m. on April 10.

Captain A. C. Crosbie, a former sea-going master, said that when the request was received everything took on a different aspect.

“Stability came into it. Time was running out then,” he said.

The court is under the chairmanship of a Wellington stipendiary magistrate, Mr R. D. Jamieson.

Captain Crosbie said he first received direct information about flooding and damage in the Wahine about 10 a.m. The Wahine’s master. Captain H. G. Robertson, reported flooding in the forward and after thruster rooms and the steering compartment. Water was also reported in the engine room. Captain Crosbie said he had not tried to get information earlier because he did not want to harass Captain Robertson.

“I had complete confidence in him,” he said.

Calculations Made

From calculations made on the information received then Captain Crosbie decided there was no great reason for concern 'bout the stability of the ship. He received no further information from the ship.

Mr R. C. Savage (for the Minister of Marine): The nature of the actual damage and flooding to the Wahine was considerably more extensive than the information you had in your hands that morning? Captain Crosbie: That is correct.

Had you had all the information as to the damage, that is excluding any reference to water on the vehicle deck, would you have calculated the stability and buoyancy of the ship?—lf we had had all the information we would have done so.

Had you been advised of the water on the vehicle deck would this have caused you particular concern, or not?— That would have given me deep concern. I would have told them to get the water out pretty quickly. Evidence given at the inquiry has shown that water, spilling from ventilators leading to flooded compartments under the vehicle deck, was 12in to 18in deep in some parts of the vehicle deck. Ship’s Design Questioned about the ship’s design. Captain Crosbie said he would have expected it to meet any known New Zealand weather in the open sea. The Wahine was well within the range of the amount above and below the water for other drive-on vessels. The ferry’s ratio of beam to length was higher than normal to give added stability, but the bulkhead deck was higher and this was a disadvantage, he said. It was

very important to keep water from the vehicle deck. Asked by Mr Savage about plans for dealing with a possible abandonment of the ship early on April 10, when the ship was just north of Barrett’s Reef, Captain Crosbie said: “I want to make this clear. The harbourmaster was in complete control.” Mr Savage: Did you actually arrange for anything to be done at that stage?—That would be outside my province. I could only work through the harbourmaster. Shore Preparations Captain Crosbie said that various Union company departmental heads conferred and arrangements were made for transport and clothing and to put everything into general readiness in the case of people coming ashore. Mr Savage: For coming ashore where?

Captain Crosbie: That is a point we just couldn’t . . . We were trying to assess where people might come ashore, but it would have been fatal to have concentrated on putting any body of men at any one place. The thing to do was to keep them in a central place and dispatch them quickly anywhere the ship was going to end up. You were concerned about the safety of the ship earlier in the morning. At that stage what steps did you take to deal with the safety of passengers and crew if they had to abandon ship?—We were in a very difficult position, because we could only do what we did with the facilities, not knowing where she would be coming ashore. Small Boats

Mr Savage asked if it would have been worth while for the harbourmaster to have alerted small boats in the Island Bay, Worsen Bay and Seatoun areas.

Captain Crosbie said that was the prerogative of the harbourmaster. "I would say. as an observer, than any person who had a boat and was not out there looking after it in that weather was not a responsible man. “The way conditions were in the harbour that morning, no small boat could have lived.”

Mr Savage asked what would have happened if the Wahine had been wrecked and it had been necessary to abandon her. Would there have been a shortage of people attempting to get to her?

Captain Crosbie: No. They would have made the attempt and some of the men might have been lost making it.

Would it have helped if it had been made sure that small boats were ready?— The harbourmaster was in complete control. Mr Savage asked whether, if there had been a narrow guttering round the vehicle deck with suction pumps in it, water could have been shifted within minutes from the vehicle deck.

Captain Crosbie: It could have been shifted, yes.

Replacement Plan

Captain Crosbie said the company was contemplating replacing the Wahine, but it would not be with an identical ship. Any modifications recommended as a result of the inquiry would be incorporated.

Questioned by Mr F. D O’Flynn, for the survivors, Captain Crosbie said that the failure of the Wahine’s radar before it hit Barrett’s Reef played no part in the disaster. Huge Wave Earlier today an Ashburton woman who survived the sinking said that her husband “just slid away” when the Wahine’s motor lifeboat overturned.

Mrs May Lynnford Hickman said her husband, Henry Hickman, aged 58, went “absolutely limp” when a huge wave capsized the lifeboat.

After she surfaced a crewman helped her back to the overturned lifeboat Eventually Mrs Hickman was washed ashore on the eastern side of the harbour. She was taken to hospital. Mrs Hickman said the boat had been “more than full. 1 had one man sitting on my shoulders.” She believed that water came into the boat as soon as it was lowered to the sea from the Wahine. She did not notice any water in the craft before it was lowered. Damage To Ship Further evidence on the damage done to the ship when she struck Barrett’s Reef was heard today. Chief Petty Officer B. N Read read to the Court a summary prepared by a team of naval divers. The team surveyed the ship’s hull and inspected Barrett’s Reef at the harbour entrance.

Dennis James O’Brien, head of the metallurgy section of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, read a report of the Department’s examination of metal components and rock samples. He said the metal pieces were reported to have come from the starboard side of the ship.

Mr O'Brien said the appearance of the fractures of all the metal pieces was consistent with failures caused by sudden, severe overloads. In no instance was there any evidence of fracture by fatigue. Mr O’Brien said damage to the forward, curved face of a large section of the starboard propeller blade indicated that the blade was moving clockwise (ahead), under considerable power, on impact. After examining rock samples from the ship and the reef a geologist believed that the samples taken from the ship were identical with those from Barrett’s Reef, Mr O’Brien said.