CAPTAIN FINED

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 34, 9 February 1935, Page 14

CAPTAIN FINED

GARBAGE IN HARBOUR

THROWN FROM MAHENO

For permitting garbage to be thrown into the harbour from the Mahenb, George Morgan, the master of. the vessel, was fined £5 by Mr. W..F. Stilwell, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court late yesterday afternoon. , He pleaded guilty. "This question of the discharge of rubbish and garbage into the harbour has been a difficulty to the board for several years," said Mr. J. F. B. Stevenson for the Wellington Harbour Board, which brought the prosecution. Counsel stated that the shipping companies had been written to periodically about the matter and masters and incoming vessels .were handed a notice drawing their attention: to the bylaw prohibiting the .'' throwing of refuse into the harbour. Complaints of the pollution of the - harbour were frequently received by the board and only recently a deputation ;of Oriental Bay residents had'waited upon 'it'in protest. When the rubbish drifted into the Boat Harbour it spoilt the paint of yachts and - entailed the board in expense in having it removed from the hard. The offence, was extremely difficult to detect and although the practice was frequent, prosecutions were few. It was easy for the crews of ships to throw stuff overboard at night but hard' to prove from what ships it came. For the defence, Mr. A. T. Young said that the master was aware of 'the regulation. He had notified the crew that they were not,to throw stuff overboard and as the ship came into port one of the officers saw-to it that the' garbage chutes were closed. The master had done his best :.to see the bylaw^ complied '.with; 'but he was now informed, and he had to admit, that some person, without" authority, had pushed out one of the chutes and discharged garbage from a galley. The question was one of purely vicarious liability. Mr. Young pointed out.that the garbage discharged was such as would be consumed 'by the natural scavengers of the sea, and .would hot be cast up on to the. beach. The defendant was the unfortunate one to be made a. scapegoat, for others. ' Mr. Stilwell: Unfortunate' enough to be caught. ' " " Mr. Stevenson pointed out that the Harbour Board had a garbage collection service for ships. .It'wasVnot correct to say -that the refuse .discharged from the Maheno would not be washed up on the beaches., While agreeing that the/captain" was in a difficult position,, inasmuch as some member- of the- crew had suited his own convenience contrary -to orders, Mr. Stilwell said that the captain was responsible for the conduct lof his crew and he would have to be fined. ■ ' ' Costs against the defendant amounted to £.\ lls. ,_,... .• v_ ,- ; : . •