FOR SAFETY AT SEA

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 148, 26 June 1925, Page 3

FOR SAFETY AT SEA

WIRELESS COMPULSION

INSTALLATIONS ON SHIPS

NEW REGULATIONS ISSUED,

In view of disasters at sea and conse- ! quenfc loss of life, much importance is attached to the issue of new wireless regulations last night affecting installa- , tions on ships. Under the new regula- | tions, which come into force on Ist January, 1926, all homo trade ships with ! ■12 passengers or more than 25 souls on, board must now carry at least an automatic apparatus for the recording of distress calls. An 1 exception is made in the ' case of vessels whose normal time of , voyage is less than eight hours. In an explanatory statement the Minter of Marine (the Hon. O. J. Anderson) indicated that so far as New Zealand was concerned the weakness of the position hitherto had'been that the" law required an installation capable only of transmitting, and not of receiving, messages. The regulations made under that law required that overy foreigngoing passenger ship, and every home trade passenger ship carrying 150 or moro passengers, was to have wireless. The amendment to the law passed last session broadened the power under which regulations might be made. it mmt bo understood that Parliament could legislate only for our own ships, that is' to say, ships registered in Aew Zealand, and ships, whether registered m Now Zealand or not, which, trade coastwise between port and port m Now Zealand. , The new regulations applied to every ship registered in the Dominion, and to all Home trade ships, whether registered in New Zealand or not, which are of 1600 tons' gross register or upwards; carrying more than 12 passengers ; and carrying more than 25 persons (that was, crew and passengers). Jivery ship coming under any one of these categories must have a wireless installation, but the regulations exempted ships which were plying solely on lakes, rivers, harbours, or within river or extended river limits.' The regulations classified ships into four classes for the purpose of determining, first, what class' of installation was .necessary; secondly, what operators were necessary; and thirdly, what listening-in service was to be rendered. . ON BBITISH LINES; * 1 __ Without going into details, the Minister said that the requirements with regard to installation, operators, and listening-in .service for foreign-going, intercolonial,, and' Home trade ships carrying over 400 persons would be the same for New Zealand ships' as for ships , of Great Britain and the Commonwealth of Australia.. With regard to Home trade ships carrying under 400 persons, however very considerable difficulty was experienced, first with the provision of operators, and secondly* with the installation of wireless on the smaller ships. The Merchant Service Guild, during the negotiations, agreed that they would do their part in helping to bring about the moro extended use of wireless on ships as a life-saving aid, by agreeing to do the operating. Provision was made in the Tegulai uons, therefore, enabling the set to' be operated by deck officers, who would be required to pass an examination to be specified by the Minister for Telegraphs, and as from Ist' January next it was intended that this examination should be incorporated in the ordinary examination for Home trade masters and mates. Provision, also would b e made enabling the endorsement of existing 'certificates, and the work of these Home trade installations by the ships' officers would overj come what threatened to be a very serious difficulty. 1 The Minister emphasised tho rapid de- , volopment of wireless telegraphy, and i stated that investigations had shown , that emergency installations would be entirely satisfactory for Homo trade purposes. Such installations were exceedingly simple to work, were practically foolproof, and fully effective. A test carried out with such a set on board ship in Auckland, and under the most adverse conditions of daylight and inductance, proved that there was no difficulty .in communicating with both Radio-Awariui and Radio-Wellington. It had been decided, therefore, to permit installations of this class to bo put into all Home trade ships, except those carrying ; over 400 persons, and which, in fact, wero already installed with higher grade installations. I GO MUCH FURTHER. ; "Our regulations, so far as the re- . quirement to carry wireless is concerned, , go a good deal further than either Great : Britain or th 6 Commonwealth of Australia, in that every ship which carries more than 25 persons will be required to , carry wireless," said the Minister. "This requirement affects a considerable .number of small coastal boats which carry a few passengers, but whose voyages are of short duration, generally in moro or less sheltered waters, and whose construction is such that .thore is a considerable difficulty in placing a wireless plant on board at. all. They are short, o[ mast,, in some cases havo only oue mast, and in any case present considerable difficulty in the erection of efficient aerials. Provision, therefore, is made enabling those smaller ships to be fitted with what is termed a 'Homo Trade Minor Installation,' if it can be shown that tho 'Major Homo Trade Installation' is unnecessary, unreasonable, or impracticable. "Provisions also are made, as in the case of every other country which has dealt with this subject, enabling the exemption of" ships or classes of ships from the requirement to carry wireless if, having regard to the nature of the voyages in which the "ship engages, or other circumstances of the case, ■ the provision of wireless is unnecessary or impracticable. Power is given for the requirements to be modified where there is justification for modification." The Minister staled that., although ii> some respects tho conditions had been ameliorated as compared with the regulation provisions of some other countries, the great advance in wireless, to which he had already referred, had made these ameliorations possible, and by taking- advantage of that, it had been possible to extend wireless to much greater extent than it could havo been had they adopted the old definitions. As Minister, of..Marine, he regarded the provision of.wireless from the point of view of a lift-saving aid, and he was satisfied that the scheme, as laid down by the regulations, would effectively ! provide for that purpose.