CRASH INTO PIER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22725, 11 May 1937, Page 8

CRASH INTO PIER

II SHIP OUT OP CONTROL 0 n : EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE 1 J LONE FISHERMAN'S ORDEAL jj [rBOM OUR OWN correspondent] MELBOURNE, May 5 f| r A lone fisherman, seated at the end Itof the Breakwater Pier, WilliamsItown, near the entrance to the River ItYarra, had a 'nerve-wracking expedience on Saturday night, when a vessel j loomed out of the darkness and cut | almost through the pier 40 feet behind |him. Although he was not hurt he | could not return to the shore across | the damaged section of the pier, and ihe had to be rescued by a launch. The vessel involved in the mishap—tone of the most remarkable in the jf history of the port of Melbourne —was |the interstate freighter Aroona, 13116 tons, owned by the Adelaide iSteamship Company, ' which was iniJward bound. The only damage to the • vessel was the, denting of two small ' plates. However, about 2500 square Ifeet of the pier was demolished, and j repairs to it are expected to cost about p£4ooo. Piles, planks, railway lines and g electric cables were torn away, and the tide and the wind carried large I quantities of the debris across the bay |to the El wood shore. | Partly laden with motor-car bodies If and parts from Adelaide the Aroona entered Port , Phillip Heads at 4.25 s p.m. Darkness had fallen by the time j she reached Hobsons Bay, and the vessel was approaching port soon after r8 p.m., travelling at half speed, when I the mishap occurred. | Jamming of the steering gear waa ••the cause of the collision, according to lan official report made to the company |by the master of the Aroona, Captain |G. Jones. He said that the order was | given to put the helm to port, but japparently the ship did not answer to |her helm. The engines were put astern iand the starboard anchor was dropped, |but the ship 'failed to "bring up." fSho ploughed into the pier with the pengines still going astern, but soon | after the impact pulled clear under her own power, if An examination after the collision to disclose any reason for the }l jamming of the steering gear, ft On the evening of April 20 a collision | between the Aroona and the schooner | Argosy Lemal was narrowly avoided ■ ■when the vessels were passing in the jUiver Yarra and the Aroona's steering ■gear failed. 1 The Breakwater Pier is one of the sport's oldest wharves and has not Ibeen used fo. v some time. However, it Scarries a green light at the 'end which lis of use to vessels entering the river. rA temporary cable has been run out to jenable the light to function again, but. fit has not yet been decided whether the heavy cost of repairing the pier |will be incurred.