SHIPOWNERS SEEK DAMAGES FOR HARBOUR FIRE
(9 a.m.) PERTH, April 8. The Eastern Asia Navigation Company, Limited, of London, is suing the Fremantle Harbour Trust Commissioners and the Commonwealth of Australia for damages. The case arises from a spectacular fire on June 17, 1945, when a piece of sacking, which had become heated on a winch aboard the steamer Panamanian, was thrown overboard and ignited Diesel oil discharged from Allied submarines.
Four hundred yards of the wharf were destroyed by the fire and the Panamanian had her wooden superstructure gutted. - Most of the cargo of 10,000 tons of flour was ruined by the fire and water. The plaintiffs claim that the fire occurred through the defendants’ negligence in not taking care to prevent an accumulation of Diesel oil on the harbour and failing to warn the ship’s masters of the danger. The defendants claim that at the time they had no control over relevant portions of the harbour which were controlled by the Commonwealth for the exclusive use of Allied warships. They 1 also declare that Captain A. N. Biermann, master of the Panamanian, failed to have proper fire-fighting gear available. The Commonwealth sets out that the damage was caused by the act of the winchman.
High Court and Privy Council appeals are expected whatever the verdict.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22917, 8 April 1949, Page 5
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217SHIPOWNERS SEEK DAMAGES FOR HARBOUR FIRE Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22917, 8 April 1949, Page 5
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