BARGE WITH 14,000 GAL. OF PETROL CAPSIZES AT SEA

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22658, 8 June 1948, Page 6

BARGE WITH 14,000 GAL. OF PETROL CAPSIZES AT SEA

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, June 8. Carrying 14,009 gallons of petrol in tanks on deck, the 70ft. barge Katie S overturned in rough weather off the Thames coast at 4 a.m. yesterday. She was being towed from Auckland to Pacroa by the launch Phyllis when the accident occurred. There was no crew aboard the barge. The Katie S and launch, owned by the Associated Motorists Petrol Company, Limited, Auckland, make weekly voyages to Paeroa with petrol. Built as n wooden ketch 40 years ago. the Katie S was converted to a petrol carrier during the war by mounting two 7000-gallon steel tanks on the deck. Considerable Head Sea Met With Mr, L. Curtis as skipper of the launch the two vessels left Auckland for Paeroa on Saturday. Mr. Curtis said the bilges were pumped out before they left Tekouma Bay, south of Coromandel, at 11.40 p.m. on Sunday. They immediately felt the force of a fresh southerly wind and a considerable head sea and the launch was forced to run at reduced speed. When the vessels were midway between Tapu and Puru and about a mile offshore the accident occurred. “I could not see how it happened,'' said Mr. Curtis. “It was a pitch black night and the barge was in tow iOO yards astern. The barge’s lights were visible one minute and gone the next." “Like a Ballroom Floor” When daylight came the crew of the Phyllis could see the upturned hull of the Katie S “like a ballroom floor.” The launch’s anchor was made last to the towline which was dropped and at 5 a.m. the Phyllis left the partly-sub-merged barge for Auckland, Mr. Curtis said he expected that the vessel would drift slowly in a northerly direction uo the Thames coast towards Coromandel. Warnings were issued by the Marine Department that the barge constituted a danger to navigation. Arrangements will be made by the Associated Motorists Petrol Company to salvage the vessel.