‘No risks’ with harbour ferry

Press, 15 November 1977, Page 6

‘No risks’ with harbour ferry

Criticisms about frequent cancellations of the Diamond Harbour launch service was firmly slapped down by the Lyttelton Town Clerk (Mr R. J. Ewen) last night. The matter was raised by the Deputy Mayor (Mr W. S. Tredinnick), who said he had lived in port all his life, but had never seen so many cancellations because of bad weather as in the last 18 months. The launch service was cancelled again yesterday, in strong southerly conditions. Mr Ewen replied that the Wahine disaster had made all masters of passenger vessels cautious in heavy weather.

“The master of any vessel, large or small, has as his first responsibility the welfare of his passengers, and second, that of his vessel,” he said. “There was a very shott choppy sea today. If the launch had gone out in that, its water cooling intake system would have been sucking air much of the time. “The engine could have heated up and seized, and ; n that chop anything could j have happened — lives could have been lost, and the boat could have been sunk. “In these circumstances we have no option but to trust the Judgment of the launch manager — and I would back him all the way,” said Mr Ewen.