RUAHINE'S DELAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1914, Page 8

RUAHINE'S DELAY

A BUCKLED CARGO PORT THE CAUSE MORE OHEE°SE UNLOADED. To-day unloading operations on the New Zealand Shipping Company's liner Ruahine were continued, and as the result of the energies of the ctfane-dtivere and the cargo-workers engaged, nearly all the cargo that it will be necessary to put out has been discharged. No. 3 hold, between decks, where the water found ingress, has been emptied of its cheese, and the coal from No. 2 hold has been emptied into a coal hulk. Today cheese was still coming out of No. 1 hold for'aTtl, but this is not damaged, and is being unloaded to lighten the vessel. Altogether some hundreds of ton 6of cheese have been taken out, and huge tiers of crates are stacked neatly in No. 1 shed on King's T/har-f. This is the undamaged product. The cheese that was immersed in salt water is stowed in X ehed, but it is quite possible that it may not have seriously deteriorated, as it has not been moist for' any length of time. The cheese which met with misfortune was turned out in factories scattered all over the North 'lsland, and some of it came from Banks Peninsula, in the South. i As she lies moored to 'the wharf the Ruahine still maintains a decided list to starboard, and following on the' discharge of the cargo in the for'ard hatches, her bow is four feet higher out of the water than when she put back to Wellington. It has now been definitely ascertained that the chief cause of the inrush of water was a buckled cargo port (used principally for shipping frozen meat) on the port side. In all probability the damage was caused through the vessel bumping the wharf as she lay berthed alongside. The port was closed , in the ordinary way before the vessel took Her departure from Wellington on Saturday last, but, owing to the nature of the damage, it was impossible to make it watertight— a fact which was not discernible at the time. To-day a workman was busy making the necessary repairs. The port that was the cause of the trouble is situated nearly amidships -in No. 3 hold, just for'ard of the smoke-stack, and when the vessel is a full ship would be submerged practically all .the time in the open sea. The surveyors have not yet finished their examination, and co far it is not ascer tamable whether any of the vessel's plates are strained. It has not yet been decided whether any enquiry into the mishap will be necessary.