MARINE JUDGMENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 329, 16 October 1908, Page 9

MARINE JUDGMENT.

; ' ■ : r . ♦ . ri I PLEA FOfe MITIGATION. Z x& : 'pNGUIN : GEIITIE COLLISION. ' Three - months 1 suspension of certificate -and-payment, of £6 Gs. towards the,costs of f tli£m'<stitr'y. Was-the penalty imposed by_ the l M;aTifie- + Co\irt*"on--tho l^ sccond ofiicer or the -■Pcngum," l al'teV hearing evidence regarding the? collision of that steamer with the Gertie, ■ near" Jackson's Head. Yesterday .a deputation l'loih' : the■ Merchant 1 Service Guild waited ou tli".-H*)iV. J. A. Millar', .Minister for Marine, Jo'a3k-for mitigation- of the punishment, c vvjiifcll"n J as ; regarded as unnecessarily severe. ;| iGaptaitt Watson, the spokesman of the deputation;''said that-under Section 238. of the :Act the Court should not deal with an of- : Acer's certificate unless there had been seri•ous damage to a vessel. In this case the (damage had'been very slight. In England, ,Vhcn a"if officer's'certificate was suspended, 'lnj I ' 'usually "granted a certificate of a '.ioSvcf .grade. The . master of the Star .of ..Japaiij -'which ' was stranded on the South rcoa'st- : and' Host with nil-her cargo, was' r puifislied by: suspension of his certificate "for'•■three:months, in the Penguin case, it •would' have- been sufficient, he considered, to •cqn'su'ro the second officer: The magistrate fhad'expressed the opinion that tho collision was-'caused by the starboarding of the Pen'.guiirs helm.- There was, however, no evidence vto : :show that the helm had been, starboarded, .and there was evidence to the effect tliat the damage might have been more seri.oiis if the Penguin's liehn had not been put 'hard' a-port. 1 ' The evidence was very conflict•in:g ■throughout. ■ 1 iZklr":--"Miliar" siid" that one could not interfere 'with'-tlie Court. 'It seemed to be-implied by bile" clause 1 of Section 23S ihat the certificate -should -not 'be suspended unless there had been : sei'ious damage. He had not seen the full'report of the evidence, but he might say at once that he would not be a party to ■screening -a man where life had been at stake. '. -Captain Watson said that the sentence was •tliought to- be unjustly harsh. Censure and 'tiie'-paymcnt of Court costs would have met tli<f'caso'. : T". _ ' 'Tlio Minister said'that ho would go into the complete papers as soon as he received them.' ■ ' ■ ' - .