CAPTAIN'S ERROR
STRANDING OF SHIP
PORT BOWEN INQUIRY
FINDING OF COURT
The decision of the Court of Inquiry which yesterday investigated , the stranding of the Port Bowen on the beach at Castlecliff on July 19 was announced this afternoon. The Court,: which' consisted of Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M., Captain L. C. H. Worrall, of Wellington, and Captain A. J. Charman. of Christchurch, found that . the Port Bowen was stranded on the beach through an error of judgment of Francis William Bailey, the master of the vessel 1. In coming in too fast after picking up the Castlecliff light, in view of the fact that he had not picked up the leading lights at the anchorage; 2. In not paying sufficient attention to the record of the echometer sounding apparatus; and 3. In not stopping his vessel when the sounding of eighty feet was recorded, which indicated that the vessel was close inshore. The Court felt that the error of judgment was brought about rather by lack of local knowledge than by any culpable act, and considered that the circumstances did not call for the suspension or cancellation of the master's certificate. No order was made regarding costs of the inquiry. i
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19391103.2.75
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 108, 3 November 1939, Page 8
Word Count
202CAPTAIN'S ERROR Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 108, 3 November 1939, Page 8
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in