ACCIDENT TO A COLLIER

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 279, 18 August 1908, Page 4

ACCIDENT TO A COLLIER

CRANK SHAFT OF THE EHGiNG BROKEN. TOWED' INTO LYTTELTON. (BT TELEGItAI'JI— I'RESS ASSOCIATION.) Cliristchurcli, August 17. Considerable surpriso was caused at Lyttelton yesterday when it was noticed tliafc the signal letters of tho Blackball Coal Company's collier Pet-one were flying at the Sumner Road Signal Station, indicating that the vessel was coming into port..

The Petone finished discharging a careo of coal on Saturday, and sailed at 8.10 p.m. for Groymouth, but when she was signalledyesterday morning as returning to port the opinion was expressed that the vessel' bad met with some mishap. ■

Tho Mararoa. arrived in port about 11 o'clock from Wellington, and Captain Manning reported having passed the Petono about 9.30 a.m. m tow of the Lyttelton Harbour Board s tug Canterbury, a fact which indicated that there had been a serious breakdown in)the collier's engine-room. At 12.40 p.m. the Petone, with tho tug Canterbury alongside, pame inside the breakwater, and was berthed at tho Gladstone Pier. * - .

Outwardly, there was no sign of any damago to the vessel, but a "Press" reporter I gathered that there had been a serious inis- : hap to the engines. Visiting the engineroom m company with Mr. M'Kellar, of the Blackball Coal Company, and Mr. Mulgan, chief engineer of the Petone, the reporter ascertained that the crank-shaft of the engine had broken in the after bearing. There had evidently been a Haw in tho shaft, and the scarred and jagged broken ends showed that the break had gone diagonally, Moro serious than this, however, was the damage, which had resulted tb tho engines,. theheavv, solid bed-plate of which was badly cracked. Ugly cracks were showing in five or sis places, ■ and the damage was regarded by <tho chief engineer as being far tho most serious part of the 'whole affair. The Petone left Lyttelton at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, and everything went very smoothly in'the engine-room until 11.35 p.m., when there was a sudden crash, and a heavy jar. jx same instant- steam was shut off, and the engines stopped. An examination showed the extent of the damage, and as there was not the slightest chance or doing any thing in the way of repairs Gapt. Christian decided to sail the steamer back to Lyttelton. A square and a trysail and two. staysails were rigged up on the foremast,. and tlnj vessel got under ,way before a light north-west, wind about 1.30 a.m. '

Yesterday, about the same hour, the Potono was spoken by a small motor fishing boat, the Spec, owned by Messrs. Hodgman and Green-, which was on her way to the fishing grounds of Kaikoura. On learning what was amiss the two men in the Spec at once set off for Lytt-elton to report the Petonc. The little boat made an excellent run down, and reached the wharf about 6.30 a.m. Captain A. H. Thorpe, acting Harbour Master, was at once advised of the mishap, aud he .loft Lyttelton. in tho tug Canterbury about 7.30 a.m. In tho meantime the Potone had not been idle, and although the wind was light she had been coming down the coast under hor improvised sails at about three knots an hour. The niishap occurred about thirty-two miles from Lyttelton Heads, aud the vessel had covered'a little over eighteen miles ilnder sail when she was met by the tug Canterbury and towed back to port. As the wind was favourable, the Petoiie would havo been able to reach Lyttelton under sail, but Captain Christian decided- to run no risks, and accepted the services of the tug. At present it is impossible to say how long tho work of repairing the engines will take. A spare crank shaft for the vessel is at present in the Lyttelton Foundry of Messrs.--Anderson's, Ltd., but the damage to the bedplate and pedestal of the engines presents a'more serious problem. -