WANGANELLA SALVAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27038, 24 March 1949, Page 5

WANGANELLA SALVAGE

FINAL PAYMENTS ANNOUNCED MASTERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES PA WELLINGTON, Mar. 23. The final payment to the masters and crews of the tugs Toia, Kahanui, Terawhiti, and Natone, the launch Arahina, and the ferry Cobar for their work in the rescue of passengers and the salvage of the. Wanganella in January, 1947, was announced in the Supreme Court. The court ordered that the sum of £2500 paid to the Wanganui and Wellington Harbour Boards and the Union Steam Ship Company as salvage money be split uj> between the members of the ships in proportion to the work they did in helping salvage the Wanganella, and, likewise, that the £350 awarded to the Eastbourne Borough Council be split among the members of the Cobar. The court’s finding follows claims by the masters of the salvage craft that crews who had already been paid extra rates for work on the Wanganella deserved no part of the £2500, as they had not performed salvage in the legal interpretation of the word, as this could only be done by the ships’ masters. This was over-ruled by the court, which, however, ruled that the major part of the salvage work and responsibility devolved on the masters. This winds up the claims by the various harbour boards, masters, and seamen for salvage money, the main claim having been settled by the court last September. The Chief Justice, Sir Humphrey O’Leary, in the judgment announcing the final payment, said the masters would ge.t a bigger share of the salvage money than the crew members, because of their added responsibilities during the operations. ,