Ship’s pilot ‘unable’ to explain fatal decision

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 3

Ship’s pilot ‘unable’ to explain fatal decision

By

PETER LUKE,

, politi-

cal reporter

“I am unable to understand why I made the sudden decision to pass through the passage,” Captain Don Jamison told the preliminary inquiry into the Mikhail Lermontov sinking. Captain Jamison’s evidence, released yesterday, offered no fresh reason for his "port 10” direction to the Soviet helmsman of the liner. That direction took the liner into the passage between Cape Jackson and the Cape Jackson lighthouse in the Marlborough Sounds. There the liner grounded and later foundered in Port Gore, with the loss of a crew member. Both the report of the preliminary inquiry and a Soviet inquiry, which were released last year, found Captain Jamison responsible for the sinking. The Soviet inquiry also held three crew members responsible for failing to question Captain Jamison’s direction. Much news media attention has centred on the transcript of evidence given to the New Zealand inquiry. This could not be released until yesterday because of a legal challenge to its publication. The Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, had warned that the evidence would contain nothing

dramatically new — ana he was right. But the evidence does give a more detailed picture of the stresses on Captain Jamison as he piloted the Mikhail Lermontov under contract on February 16 last year. Captain Jamison said he could not understand why he made his sudden decision, but that it was made on the spur of the moment and was “quite out of keeping with my normal behaviour.” He said he had always considered himself a capable and competent pilot — one held in the highest regard by those associated with the harbour industry. Captain Jamison told the inquiry that in hindsight his only explanation was “that I was suffering from mental and physical exhaustion and that I was over-stressed as a result of working long hours for an excessive period of time.” As a result “I was not in an adequate physical and mental condition to be acting as pilot.” “Obviously I did not recognise that I was in such condition at the time.” He said, however, that “the long hours which I have been working are well known to the chairman and members of the board, and to most members of the board’s staff.” At the time of the sinking, Captain Jamison had 15 weeks of leave due to him. He said that since October, 1985, he had averaged 75 to 80 hours work a week. “Basically, I have

worked between the hours of 0600 hours to 2200 hours or 2400 hours seven days a week.” “On several occasions my wife has had to come to the office at midnight and insist that I return home.” Captain Jamison said that the dismissal of the board’s general manager, and the resignation of the deputy harbourmaster meant that he was performing the duties of general manager, harbourmaster, deputy harbourmaster and pilot for three months late in 1985. A deputy harbourmaster did begin on December 20. But Captain Jamison said he had had to argue “quite strongly” with the board for a replacement to be made. He said that additional stress was created by the litigation which followed the general manager’s dismissal. Captain Jamison said that this had made his job of acting general manager more difficult and had an

unsettling effect on staff. At the inquiry Captain Jamison and members of the Soviet crew were asked how much alochol they had consumed on February 16. Captain Jamison said that just after midday he had consumed two glasses of vodka and a glass of beer aboard the liner. “I considered I was not impaired by any consumption of alcohol.” He added, however, that in hindsight he would normally not have drunk alcohol before piloting a vessel. That he did so “may be indicative of my condition.” Captain Jamison also said he must have been very tired by the time the outer pilotage limits were reached — just before the grounding. “This probably affected my judgment.” In his evidence, Captain Jamison said that he had fallen heavily on the deck earlier in the voyage, and had had a sore back and neck the next day.