CAPTAIN'S ERROR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22389, 8 April 1936, Page 14

CAPTAIN'S ERROR

SHOULD HAVE STOPPED CHECKING SHIP'S POSITION his' certificate returned " navigation vindicated " [by telegraph —own correspondent] L WELLINGTON, Tuesday The declaration that Captain W. D. Cameron, master of the llangatira, was not justified in his absolute conclusion as to where the vessel was just before the grounding and that he made an error of judgment in proceeding at speed without first ascertaining his position definitely, was made by the Supreme Court in its judgment this afternoon on the rehearing of the inquiry into the stranding of the ship near Sinclair Head on February 2. However, because of his unblemishe record over many years, his superb seamanship after the grounding, and the abnormal conditions of tie w set the ship off her course, the Court considered that the certificate of the master should not be affected, and it was later handed back to him. Jurisdiction Upheld The Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, held that the legal point that there was no jurisdiction for the rehearing could not be upheld and that the Minister of Marine had power to order a rehearing and the Supreme Court had powsr to hold it. The Solicitor-General, Mr. H. ±l. Cornish, K.C., commented that the principles of sound navigation had been vindicated, and that was enough. The Chief Justice presided at the rehearing, and associated with as assessors were Captain L. B. or ~ rail and Captain F. W. Baron. The Court's finding on the evidence covered seven foolscap pages, and reviewed the facts of the case at some length,' pointing out that the master and chief officer, Mr. T. E. Bevan, thought at 6 a.m. that the ship was about''six miles from Pencarrow Head and that the headland they saw at 6.2 was Taurakirae Head. The visibility must then have been bad, because apparently only the headland could be made L out, the Court commented. Neither the coastline nor the hills ot which the headland formed a part could be seen. " Basis of Identification The identificatibn of the headland was made largely on the basis of the distance travelled by log, by dead reckoning, by soundings, and by the fact that according to the course set that was the land expected to be sighted. In fact, instead of being about three miles off Taurakirae, as the master thought, the vessel was little more than a mile from the _ rocks between Tom's Rock and Sinclair Head. The master had allowed for an ebb tide taking into account the extraordinarily strong ebb tide experienced on the two previous trips, but actually he had experienced an abnormal flood tide setting him in the opposite direcThe real question was whether the master was justified in proceeding as he did when he saw the land in the conditions existing. If he did everything an experienced mariner could, adopting reasonable caution, he was entitled to be excused from all blame.

Conclusion and Action "The Court, however, is unable to say that this is the position," stated the judgment. "The decision *of the and the chief officer that the headland they saw was Taurakirae is quite intelligible; that was the land they expected to see. But, nevertheless, the vessel was three miles off its assumed course and further than that off the actual course set, and the Court is of the opinion that the master was not justified —on his view merely of what must have been only a portion of the headland, in the poor visibility that obtained at the time, and having regard to the vagaries of the tides in the strait, of which every mariner knows —in coming to the absolute conclusion that the land he saw was Taurakirae Head, and in acting on that conclusion by proceeding at a speed of 16 knots. " Eyen at the earlier stage, namely When the master came on deck, the Court is of opinion that he should, in the conditions that existed, have taken way off his ship and obtained a radio bearing to check his estimation of his position. " Should Have Stopped "

" Seeing that this was not done, the conditions at 6.2 a.m., when lie saw the land,- called for special caution, and the ship should have been stopped until the general conditions improved to such an extent as to enable the master to locate his position with absolute certainty, or at least obtain a radio bearing tb check his assumed position. After the ship struck, the master saw a white building ashore that he took to be the homestead at Orongorongo. It had developed that the house was not the homestead at Orongorongo, but a' house near the mouth of Karon Stream. Even if he had seen the building when he first sighted the land, however, its presence would probably have been an additional reason for the conclusion that the land was laurakirae Head. Superb Seamanship " In all the circumstances of the case, the master's proceeding as he did at 6.2 a.m. was, in the opinion of the Court, an error of judgment. In view, however, of his unblemished record over 35 years, and of the superb seamanship that he showed after tho disaster—but for which many lives might have been [ os t—and of the undoubted abnormal tides, which caused the vessel to bo set so yfar west of her course, the Court considers that his certificate should not be affected." . The Chief Justice said he made no order as to costs, because the rehearing was not of . the captain's seeking. His counsel (Mr. P. 13. Cooke, K.C.) might wish to challenge tho decision on tho question ot jurisdiction, however, in which case an order for costs might Mr.' Cooke said he desired no order for costs. " Sound Navigation " The Solicitor-General gave an assurance that the master would not be prejudiced in a future action, if any were taken, by the fact that there had been no order for costs against the master. "The Minister was concerned only to see that the principles of sound navigation were vindicated," Mr. Cornish said.//" That has been done, and that is enough." The previous investigation was held in the Magistrate's Court in February before Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., who had with him as assessors Captain W. H. Hartman and Captain H. Hollis. This Court of Inquiry expressed the opinion that the stranding was not caused or contributed to by any wrongful act or default of the "master or any of his officers or crew, and that the master was justified in assuming that J, sighted at 6.2 a.m. was laurakirae Head. It decided that tho certificates of the master and chief officer should be returned without blemish.