THE LINER ZEALANDIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19001, 25 October 1923, Page 11

THE LINER ZEALANDIC.

SALVAGE WORK TO GARTHSNAID. VALUABLE AND PERILOUS SERVICE. ADMIRALTY COURT AWARDS £6350. The White Star liner Zealandio. from Liverpool, via Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton, which is at present completing discharge of Homeward cargo at the Victoria wharf, recently figured prominently in an important Admiralty Court case, when Mr Justice Hill, alter pointing out that where a vessel in distress employed a costly salving instrument, failing smaller craft and lugs, the award must necessarily be higher, awarded tho liner £6OOO and £360 as expenses for arduous and perilous services rendered to tho barguo Garthsnaid when she found her in distress in the neighbourhood of Cape Howe on April 1 last. Tho salving instrument, with tho vessel’s cargo, represented a value of considerably more than £250,000. The Zealandio was at the time of tho mishap employed in the White Star Australian and New Zealand service. and while Homeward bound, was proceeding from JSydncy to Geelong. In his judgment Mr Justice Hill said that a large and powerful steamer had rendered service to a partially disabled barque. The Zealandio was of £O9O tons gross and of 4700 horsepower indicated with a crew of 84 hands. She had on board a part general cargo of about 2000 tons, a portion of which was refrigerated goods. The value of the Zealandio was £120,000, her cargo was valued at £142,044, and tho freight at risk at £5422—-a total value of £207,466. Tho Garthsnaid, the salved vessel, was a three-masted steel barque of 1416 tons gross, and she had on board a cargo of 2324 tons of nitrates. She was bound from Iquiquo to Melbourne, carrying a crew of 21. Some question had arisen as to her values, but, said his Lordship, “I think it pretty clear that they ought to be taken aa follows i--The ship in her damaged condition, £1800; cargo £26,972, and freight at risk £3068; a total of £31,660. Tho cargo was owned •by c.i.f. buyers at Melbourne, and the c.i.f. price was £29,209 10s 7d, The freight, which was £3068 12s lOd, had not bevi paid, and was consequently freight at risk, and therefore for underwriters’ purposes it may be better that it should be separated. In order to ascertain the value of the cargo at the time it wag brought into safety, you must take off the freight with which it was saddled, and you get £26,140 17s 9d. On the other hand, that does not include iany value which may be in the goods representing the property of persons who had bought it from the c.i.f. purchasers. The evidence shows that the profit would be per cent., and 1 take it in favour of the salvors that that is so, and that tho value of the cargo_ was therefore £26,792.”

After considering the circumstances leading up to the mishap and the valuable and perilous service rendered by the Zealandio to the Garthsnaid, Mr Justice Hill dealt with the responsibility of the case. The Zealandio had performed a useful service, he continued, because instead of being taken to Sydney, the barque was taken to Melbourne, to which port her cargo was destined. Moreover, the Zealanclic took upon herself the responsibility of taking the barque through the narrows right into harbour, and saved tho barque the heavy expense which would have been incurred if she had had to employ tugs in her disabled condition. The total distance towed was 375 miles.

It was agreed that the ropes used up were of the value of £350. Thus, although the towage was in the direction of her voyage, the Zeal and ic lost some time in the towage; she lost more time when she lay at anchor for the night at Melbourne, and she lost further time when the diver went down to dear her propeller. However 1 , altogether, the delay did not come to a very great deal, probably not more than a day and a-half.

“Taking all these things together, and taking into account the hazardous nature of tho boat work, which I want to reward properly,” said his Lordship, “I award the sum of £6OCO plus £550 expenses. I give £4350 to the owners of the Zealandio, and £2OOO to tho master and crew, of which sum 1 apportion £6OO to (he master, who ‘undertook a great responsibility, and £I4OO to tho crew, giving three shares to those who were engaged in boat work. These figures are undoubtedly larger than would be the case if tho services had been performed by coasters or tugs, but when you employ a very costly instrument like the Zealandio yon are bound to pay a larger sum by way of reward.”