INSURANCE CLAIM.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 112, 13 May 1910, Page 8

INSURANCE CLAIM.

THE LOSS OF THE DUCO. At the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, the hearing of the action Wellington Harbour Ferries, Ltd., v. tne Corporation of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, was continued before Mr. Justice Chapman and a special jury. The claim was for £500 on a policy of insurance on the steamer Duco. Mr. C. P. Skerrett, X.0., with him Mr. F." Cr. Dalziell, appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. J. H. Hosking, K.C., (of Dunedin), with him Mr. A. A. S. Mentea th and Mr. W. H. D. Bell, for dedendants. After The Post went to press yesterday, William Bendall, master mariner, deposed that he now practiced as a ship surveyor, and acted in that capactiy for Lloyds Register. He knew the Duco. She was built for a tug, and he thought also for general harbour purposes. She was not designed as a cargo boat. Witness examined her on 29th June last. He described the alterations that had been made on the vessel. Witnss, did not think she was a vessel that should have carried any weight on deck. He thought the centre of • gravity and the metacentre would be pretty close- together/ in the Duco in the way she was said to have been loaded. He did not think she was safe to -go to sea loaded as had been stated. Assuming that he had to fit the Duco for a deep-sea, voyage, he would not have put the loading mentioned on the deck. It would be improper to go to sea without lashmg the coal and tank on deck. When he "surveyed her, he came to the conclusion that she should not 'carry deck cargo. He understood the Duco was to' leave for the Chathams at 3 o'clock. Instead of that she went at 2. Witness saw that a southerly was coming up, and thought she would anchor at the heads, and the captain would wait to ccc the "weight" of it before going out. A vessel the shape of the I)uco would plunge or dive very much, in a seaway — much more than a vessel with a long flat floor. Mr. Skerrett put in Lloyd's certificate 100-A1 issued for the Duco. Witness, in answer to Mr. Skerrett, said the Duco was classed 100-Al at Lloyds when built in 1892, but the vessel did not comply with Iloyds' conditions in regard to periodical inspection in order to remain classed as 100-Al. It was not intended, said witness, that she should carry cargo. If she was properly provided with coal, she was suited for her work at the Chathams. He had always regarded Captain Abram as an experienced and cautious man. TO-DAY'S EVIDENCE. Captain Bendall (further examined by Mr. Skerrett) said he heard (before the Duco left on the second trip), of the incident related by the witness M'Lean about the Duco not righting herself quickly when struck by a heavy sea on the first trip to the Chathams. That did not alter witness's opinion as to the seawoithiness of the Duco under proper conditions. Tho Duco had a better midship section than he formerly thought she had. To. Mr. Hosking: The fact of the steamer having a better mids-hip section did not alter the opinion he had given as to its being unsafe to place deck cargo on the- vessel when going to sea. To keep a ship on a particular class at Lloyds it was necessary that she should be surveyed every four years. Cecil Grenville Horn, a retired comjnander of the Royal Navy, said he knew the Duco fairly well. She was not built to carry cargo, or even passengers. She was very "fine" in her model. Taking out the iron ballast and replacing it with aai insulator would have a tendency to raise the centre of gravity — to make 'her more top-heavy. It would be like the difference of a man sitting in a boat and standing in a boat. The putting in of the refrigerating engine would tendto raise the centre of gravity. Assuming that the centre of gravity in the .ship was originally not too low, witness considered that the raising of the centre 'of gravity was a disadvantage in so far as stability was concerned. The coal and tank of water on the deck of the Duco would have a bad effect on her stability. He thought they decidedly decreased the stabjlity of the ship by the manner in which they loaded her. With the cargo on deck (as had been described) he would not have taken her to sea. He did not think she was reasonably fit to undertake a voyage to the Chathams. She would have been a much better seaboat without^ the deck cargo. (Proceeding.)