Case against ferry master adjourned

Press, 2 June 1977, Page 5

Case against ferry master adjourned

, PA Wellington Legal definitions and technicalities showed that there was no case against a ferry master who had sailed a 'Cook Strait ferry with the' i stern door open, defence ■ counsel said in the Magis- ■ trate’s Court in Wellington on Tuesday. William ’ John Jones, a i master mariner, pleaded not guilty to a charge that on (April’ 13. on a voyage be-| 'tween Picton and Wellington, he did not keep the] ] stern door of the ferry Aranui closed while at sea. Jones was represented byi Mr H, B. Rennie and the] prosecutor, the Ministry of Transport, by •Mr R. N. Hawkes. Mr A. B. Beatson, 5.M.,( ] adjourned the case to June: 114 to consider Mr Rennie’s' ■preliminary submissions. If■ |he rules in favour of these.! (the prosecution may be dis-!

(missed. ] Mr Rennie said there were; :defects in the charge laid;! (no offence existed under the; : regulations covering the ] ; charge. The prosecution had to! | prove that the vessel was (registered in New Zealand; (that Captain Jones had been , ithe master at the time of (the incident; that the stern : I door was a water-tight door; 'and that the door had been i kept open in circumstances (when it was required to be ] (kept shut. I There was no absolute prohibition on closing or

i; opening water-tight doors at .(sea, he said. But there was > no definition of a water-tight 1 door in the regulations. t In reply, Mr Hawkes said Jthe master had been aware ,(of the sustenance of the J charge. The offence had oc- , (curred when the rules were not complied with. i Earlier, the Court had J heard that the ferry had put i to sea before it was disJ covered that the stern door ■! would not close. The JAranui’s chief officer, John! Hilton Reid, said several at-' (tempts to close the door had (failed, and the bridge had J been told of the problem (when the ship was about . ‘ 50ft to 100 ft from the wharf. He said a rope was put ,: across the open doorway for ■ (the rest of the trip, and a J seaman was put on watch' Jthe whole time. Questioned by Mr Rennie,; (witness said he had been'

(told that the stem door had! (not been working smoothly; (the day before. He said he: (had heard rumours that the! ] ferry was to keep sailing,; (but had not been told' ' directly. The engineering superin-; tendent of the Railways air! and sea services, James Rob-! ert Pduirhead Crawford, said; he bad been told about the; problem of the stern door on; April 14. Investigations ( showed that a hydraulic ( hinge on the door had been ( damaged internally, and' would not work. He said that the stern!

door could have been fixed with emergency measures by (the engineering staff before ’ they left Picton. Cross-exam-ined by Mr Rennie, he said !such measures would have been risky while the ship was sailing.

The director of the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport. Hubert David Morris Jones, said the stern door of the ferry was watertight when closed.

( If it was left open, it would create a fire hazard because there would be no wav of shutting off ventita-

ition. Waves created by the i ferry would also enter the ship’ if she were to stop suddenly. Her stability might be affected, and she could keel over. The principal surveyor of ships in Wellington, George Timothy Nicol, said the master knew of the trouble with

! the door the previous day, ;and had told his superiors. I He had not entered the inIcident in the official log be(cause he had gone off the (ship soon after berthing at ; i Wellington. I The master had hoped the' idoor would be shut before 'they reached Tory Channel. (When he was told that it; (could not shut he decided' Ito proceed to Wellington, .because the ferry would (have had to turn outside the (channel. The journey was ■ only 15 minutes less to Pic-, 'ton than it was to Wellington then, he said.