LIFE-SAVING AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15124, 15 October 1912, Page 10

LIFE-SAVING AT SEA.

BOATS FOR ALL ON BOARD. NEW BOARD OF TRADE RULES. [FIIOM Orß owx COBBESrOXDEKT.] Loxnox, September 7. Tub Titanic disaster has led to tho Board of Trade issuing revised rules dealing with life-saving appliances at- sea. With regard to foreign-going: skips, tho principal changes made arc as follows: — Vessels are in future to provide sufficient lifeboat accommodation for all on board. The number of boats to be attached to davits is no longer to depend on tonnage, but on the length of the ship, and the davits must bo placed amidships. Appliances as effective for launching boats may be substituted for davits. Lifeboats must bo of a prescribed build. Existing collapsible boats are to count for a certain period, after which they will bo replaced by lifeboats. A larger proportion of motor boats is to I* allowed- Lifeboats are to bo provided with protective fenders. All life-jackets and lifo buoys are to be- suitably placed, and their position plainly indicated. At least half the buoys must have ignition apparatus attached. Foreign-going cargo steamships are to carry sufficient lifeboats on each side to accommodate nil on board.

The instructions g'ven by tho Board of Trade under tho Merchant Shipping Acts as to the minimum number of deck hands to bo carried by vessels are being revised, so as to secure a sufficient complement of efficient boat hands to deal with tho total number of boats which will cow be required to bo carried, and to be manned in an emergency. It is proposed that in foreign-going steamers, within certain limits, the boat hands must bo efficient deck hands, while outside these limits seamen of other rating? may be drawn upon to make up tho complement, provided thr.t they satisfy the Board of Trade, by certificate or_ otherwise, of their competence as boat hands. The Board has no power to make systematic boat-drill by the crow compulsory, and in this matter, as well as in regard to the whole question of manning, it may be necessary to seek /or further powers. _ A Bill to impose compulsorily the institution of wireless telegraphy on certain classes of ships has been prepared by the Board of Trade in consultation with thej post office and the Admiralty. But as this question is one on which international, agreement is highly desirable, the president, prefers not to proceed with the Bill until after the proposed international negotiations on safety of lifo at sea, presided that this course does not entail undue delay. In tho opinion." of Belfast shipbuilders, there will bo considerjible difficulty in carrying out the roles laid down by the Board of Trade for the provision of wooden lifeboats on all vessels sufficient for all on board. The rules would necessitate the complete rearrangement of the boat-decks of shirs of ocean-going size, and en the great vessels now being launched almost every week would cause serious inconvenience. A set of davits takes tip considerable space, and experience proves that there are already sufficient of these or. th© great liners if they are not to interfere with "the plans in force for saving life in emergencies. The danger is that in the desire to make ocean travelling as safe as possible the Board of Trade may lay down rules and regulations which will simply aggravate what it meant to avoid. Should Parliament sanction the new rules, a vessel like the Olympic will bo compelled to carry more than 60 boats. Assuming that each .would be built to accommodate 50 persons, this would mean 30 double sets of davits, unless, as is anticipated by' shipbuilders will be the case, some device is found which may bo equally efficacious and less cumbersome than the davits. The newrules, of course, will mean a boom in boatbuilding. Before tlie Titanic disaster these boats, which are usually 30ft lon<r, cost £1 a foot afterwards, owing to the demand, the price rose to 25s a foot, and it is probable that this figure will now be increased.