SINKING OF TUG

Hokitika Guardian, 22 September 1938, Page 7

SINKING OF TUG

INQUIRY INTO HARBOUR MISHAi fPer Pleas Aaauciuuun— Copyright^ AUCKLAND, Sop. 12. At un inquiry nioj too j>uuwii£.or the uaruonr, noma s tug, i e awwuu, o.u,mmn i'roumo sum: ‘Trie muncm i'o* l o toon us in tow and brought Us t 0 auou t trail way between trie queen s wharf and r mice's wharf, tooino of my men were still calling to ‘tie her up at the Prince's \viiari, and that sue would blow up. One was most emphatic that sue would capsize. \y itness said that, half way amoss to the Princess Wharf,' the Presto came alongside. , At that stage he asked the engineer about the water tight doors. The engineer replied: “I can’t close them. They are jammed.” He added: ‘‘She is a moral to blow up, and you had better come with us in the launch.” Witness said he noticed that the tao engineers and the fireman, had their personal effects under their arms. Witness added that the mate deserted at a critical moment, and went' on board the Ferro as soon as she came alongside. Br Fodden said he thought that witness should simply say that the mate went on board. Counsel said they should be fair to the mate and his evidence was not yet heard. ■Witness continued by saying that the mate went on board the Ferro without his instructions. The two engineers and the firemen boarded another launch, the Presto, also without orders. Witness gave no orders to leave the ship, because he did not think the tug was going to sink. By the time they reached the Prince’s Wharf, there was only a deck hand anu himself on board. Witness made no attempt to stop the* men leaving the tug. Captain Probert then described how the tug sank, and how lie and the deck hand were picked up out of the water.

To Mr McKean, witness said he estimated that about L 3 minutes elapsed between the time the tug cast oft ; from the Essex, and when it sank. He assumed that. the engineers, between them, would have left of steam. The doors were in excellent order when witness later examined them when the j tug was on the slip. There was nothing witness could have done to avoid the accident. This was his first serious accident. Captain Kelsey said the Essex was moving very slowly when oft tire wharf. He did not consider that any manoeuvre he made was likeyl to place the Te Awhina in a difficult position. In his opinion the tug was too close to the propellots It was thus in broken water; and the disposal of water by the propeller going ahcuv* j made an intake of water forward. The use of antot'her head line could have kept the tug clear of the propeller. To Mr Moody, witness said that Captain Probert was regarded as a competent tug master, On that day there was a fairly strong tide rip coming down from the Queen’s Wharf. Witness had at no stage received a report from the second officer of tile Essex, stationed aft, that the tug was in a dangerous position. Mr Moody: The major cause of this trouble was the set of the tide. Witness: The set of the tide assisted in pushing him on to the propeller. The tendency of the Essex’s propellors would be to draw the smaller steamer in. At this stage the “Court adjourned until to-morrow.