THE PORT BOWEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 107, 2 November 1939, Page 15

THE PORT BOWEN

STORY OF STRANDING

INQUIRY OPENED

, CAPTAIN'S EVIDENCE

A Magisterial inquiry into the strand*ag of the Port Line steamer Port

(8267 tons) off the beach at r-r-c&^iff, Wanganui, on July 19 last, was opened in the Magistrate's 'Court, Wellington, this morning, before Mr. J.L. Stout, S.M. The assessors were Captain L. C. H. Worrall, of Wellington, and Captain ..A. J. Charman, oi Christchurch.

Despite repeated attempts to refloat her, the Port Bowen is still aground.

Mr. J. Prendeville appeared for the Marine Department, and Mr. E. K. Kirkcaldie for the master of the Port Bowen, Captain F. W. Bailey. Captain F. A. Macindoe, secretary of the Merchant .Service Guild, also watched the interests of Captain Bailey and his officers on behalf of the Navigators" and Engineer Officers' Union of England, to which the guild is affiliated. Mr. R.-.C. Christie represented the owners of the Port Bowen.

The first witness was Captain Bailey, who said that the Port Bowen was built at Belfast in 1919.. She was well-found and equipped in every way. Witness said that he could not say what the insurances were. He had been round the New Zealand coast previously. On the trip on which the stranding occurred the vessel left Picton on July 18 and cleared Jackson Head, at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound, at 6.27 p.m.l Her draught was 24ft 6in forward and 28ft 6in aft, and she carried frozen produce and general cargo, principally wool. Witness set a course to bring him to the west of the Wanganui breakwater. At the time there was a slight southerly wind, a slight swell, and it was dark and cloudy overhead. Mr. Prendeville: Did you take note of the tide. • Witness: I did not. According to the note in the New Zealand Nautical Almanac, the tides around Cook Strait are very indifferent. POSITION CHECKED. About 9.45 p.m. he was on the bridge, witness continued. The Port Bowen was then approaching Wanganui. At 10.50 p.m. he picked up the Castlecliff light at an estimated distance of 19 miles. He checked that up with the log distance run from the last permanent "fix" on the South Island. That put the vessel 5£ miles westward of the original course, and as he had had a, double check he wf»s quite confident that the position was correct. He then .laid a course 15 degrees to starboard, and maintained practically the same distance off the Wanganui mole lights. At 11.45 p.m. he proceeded to a position which gave him 5£ miles to go to Wanganui lights, said witness. About this time a light was sighted which to him was distinctly orange in colour, and he consulted the fourth officer. As they could find no orange light of any consequence, they discarded it and did nst take a bearing. This light afterwards proved to be one of the mole lights. At 11.50 p.m. he put the engines; at half-speed, and about this time he picked up a red. light near the Castle- ; cliff light. This was very dim, and Visible only through powerful glasses. »It did not look like a navigation light, and "might have been anything." About 11.55 the .chief officer came on to the bridge, merely for orders, and not to assist. in navigation, but when witness remarked that he. could not yet see any of the lights the chief officer picked up binoculars, and after scanning the shore for a few minutes sighted a green light. They did not take a bearing, but it would be to the north, on the starboard bow. About this time witness instructed the fourth officer to get some bearings off the Castlecliff light and another light. The fourth officer went into the chart-room, and witness followed, and at once saw he had overrun his distance. HELM SWUNG OVER. He shouted to the chief officer to stop the engines, said witness, and hurried to the bridge and put the helm hard to starboard. "The vessel was swinging on the starboard helm, and was slow and sluggish," said witness. "So at 12.9 a.m. I went ahead on'the port engine. At 12.11, while going full speed on the port engine, the vessel touched a bank in the way of No. 4 hatch, on the port ?side. By this time I could see the two mole lights, and they were a point on the port bow. I continued with my engine going ahead, and I tried both engines ahead at 12,13 a.m. to see if she would work off the bank. It made no difference. At 12,33 the yessel was not moving, so I stopped the engines altogether." HELP FROM THE SHORE. At 12.35 a.m. the starboard anchor was let go to try to hold the ship's head to sea, but it would not hold. Soundings of holds and tanks were taken, and as the, ship was not making any water and there was no danger to life he did not abandon ship. He sent messages to the local agents at Wanganui and to the office in Wellington. At 4.25 ash', a tug came out, also the har : bourmaster in a launch, and it was agreed to try to get'the ship off at 10" o'clock that morning. From then onwards, until July 24, repeated efforts were made to tow the ship off but without success. Witness described the breaking of anchor cables during gales and the driving of the Port Bowen over the sand bank and closer inshore. All the cargo was subsequently removed to the shore! On the voyage from Picton the vessel's echo sounder was working from 11 p.m. onwards and showed 80ft to 90ft, except for two readings of 60ft. The Port Bowen had almost touched the bank when witness first saw the mole lights. Witness said the vessel did 12.9 knots from Jackson Head, and at 11.50 he reduced speed. CONFIDENT OF POSITION. Questioned .by the Magistrate, witness, said he was so confident that his position was safe that he did not check the echo-sounding device. He had been in Wanganui roadstead about six times over a period of 15 years, as chief officer, said witness. He was making for the usual place of anchorage shown on the chart, but was actually to the north of it. He had since found out that there was rain and hail over the land that night. ; To Mr. Kirkcaldie, witness said he j had been at sea 28 years, and had had j four years' apprenticeship in sail. He had been in the service of the Port Line since 1915, and'was promoted chief officer in 1923. His conduct had never before been challenged in any court .of inquiry, and his record as a seaman was a clean sheet. He had previously visited Wanganui as chief officer. This was his first command, and he had been to 16 ports on ihe voyage. At 8 o'clock the ship was half a mile to westward of her course bearing, said witness. The position along the course bearing by log and the position by cross-bearing corresponded within

a quarter of a mile. A rising bearing such as he had taken on the Castlecliff light gave a fairly definite "fix," coinciding with the log reading. The distance .from Jackson Head to the finishing point off the Wanganui mole was 69 miles, and at 10.50 p.m. the distance to go was 17 miles. When he picked up the Castlecliff light he considered that his. difficulties iri navigating up to the roadstead were practically at an end. Actually he was deceived by the harbour lights, and did not see them when he anticipated.

Both he and the fourth officer were using binoculars and distinctly saw what appeared to be an orange light. It afterwards proved to be.a red mole light, but at;the time they discarded -it as a mole light. Witness had come to the conclusion that the weather conditions ashore that night were responsible for the orange appearance of the light. It was when he did not pick up the red light that he instructed the fourth officer to take a bearing off the Castlecliff light and immediately found that he had overrun the distance and was to the north of the breakwater, y. NO HINT OF DANGER. Mr. Kirkcaldie: Up to that time, ,had you any hint of danger because you could not see the red light?—-No, I was quite confident of my position. To Captain Worrall, witness said that the officers did not express any opinion about the ship being near the land as they were approaching Wanganui. He was not complaining about the harbour lights, but on that night, according to reports, there had been hailstorms ahd rainstorms ashore The lights were certainly burning at the time of the stranding. Thomas Sutton, third officer of the ship, also gave evidence, describing the stranding. Witness' said the land lights at that time were not as distinct as they appeared'later on in the watch. Witness said that within possibly two minutes after Captain Bailey entered the chartroom to see,the bearing taken on the Castlecliff light he shouted out' for the engines to be stopped. Witness had not taken over the watch from the. fourth officer at that;time. VAPOUR OFF THE BEACH. The fourth officer,. John Norman Devlin, corroborated the orange appearance of the light described by the captain. On several occasions since he had :observed that one of the .mole, lights appeared definitely, orange, and vapour always appeared, off the Castle-. cliff beach at night time. "Do you think the intensity of the vapour would be sufficient to dim the intensity of the red light?" asked Mr.. Prendeville. . "I don't see .why not," replied wit-, XIQSS. * Witness described setting 'and adjusting the echo, sounder. He . had: seen the readings on several occasions. Seeing that they were approaching, a shoaling coastyand the lights were somewhat indistinct, said Mr.; Prendeiville, he would say they might be ; watching the depth. ~.'•'■* "■■ Witness replied that he thought it more necessary to stay outside, on the bridge where he could pick up the. lights. . ". '"'.,. \ CHIEF OFFICER'S EVIDENCE. The chief officer, Philip. Henry Ped-; rick, said that he went on the bridge at 5 minutes to midnight.. He noticed a-white flashing light and several shore lights, but no coloured: lights of any description. ■ On the master remarking th£tt he could not see any of the navigation lights, witness looked . for them with, the glasses, and eventually sighted;a,green light on the port bow. He. corroborated the; captain's evidence : regarding the. appearance of an orange light. He knew of no conditions off Wanganui to interfere with the. true recording. ,of the. echo-sounding apparatus.' -■ ;■ • \ ■>.•:■ "When I first looked round I had ho impression that we were near the land, and thought we had a good distance to run", .witness continued, . When.... he saw-a green light he began to get, suspicious, since green lights . were not shown oh the ship's chart. Had he seen both green lights he would have had some idea of the ship's position in "regard to anchorage. The light he* saw changed from white to green while he was watching it. He had since discovered, by walking up to it from the beach, that it was an ordinary electric lamp with a green shade, and that the bottom was but, causing a white line to show ori the beacon. Captain Worrall; You would not call them first-class lights?— Definitely not. John Murdo Smith, who stated he was on look-out duty, said he. saw only white lights. He did not see a green light, and the officers did not ask him if he saw a green light. An A.8., Alexander Kennedy, Said he did not see the mole lights, and could not see, either red or green lights. He could not see the beach ahead of the ship. *

(Proceeding.)