MARINE INQUIRY OPENED

Southland Times, Issue 23336, 21 October 1937, Page 13

MARINE INQUIRY OPENED

Sinking Of Trawler Black Cat COLLISION BETWEEN VESSELS MASTERS OF SHIPS GIVE EVIDENCE I The sinking of the trawler Black Cat in a collision with another trawler, the Rita, in Foveaux Strait on August 11 was the subject of a marine inquiry yesterday. Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M., presided and the assessors were Captain J. S. McKenzie and Captain H. J. Treurn. Mr H. J. Macalister appeared for the superintendent of mercantile marine, Mr J. S. Sinclair, of Dunedin, and with him Mr N. Watson, for the Direct Fish and Oyster Company, Ltd., owner of the Black Cat, and Mr Gordon Reed for Urwin and Co., Ltd., owner of the Rita. Captain H. A. Dillner was present as nautical adviser. At the request of Mr Macalister, wno said there was a considerable conflict in evidence, all witnesses other than the masters of the two vessels were ordered out of court Mr Macalister said that this was an inquiry under the provision of the Shipping and Seamen Act. The collision occurred on the oyster grounds off Ruapuke Island, when the Rita collided with the Black Cat, striking her amidships and causing her to founder. Immediately before the collision the Rita was under way at full steam. The evidence whether the Black Cat was under way, that was to say, moving, was contradictory. The master and crew of the Black Cat said she was not under way, and the master and crew of the other vessel said she was. The Black Cat, according to the master of the Rita, was steaming south-easterly with the Rita on her starboard side. The Black Cat, therefore, under the rules, was the vessel to give way. Another question was whether the vessels were equipped with life-saving appliances under the life-saving rules. That, however, was a subsidiary question. DESCRIPTION OF VESSEL William Edward Johnson, master of the Black Cat, said the vessel was of 27.79 gross tonnage and 9.61 net tonnage, and was built of wood. Her length was about 57ft 6in and beam about 12ft 6in. She had a 72 horsepower full Diesel engine, and was schooner rigged. Witness held a “river limit” ticket. He left Bluff on August II at 6 a.m. for the oyster ground off Ruapuke Island, arriving there about 7.20. He then proceeded to dredge for oysters. Witness went to an oyster bed west of the north-east point of Ruapuke Island and had about four or six tows there for about an hour and a-half. The boat then went straight out about north-east of the north-east head. He started dredging there and continued till the time of the accident, which was between 10.30 and 11 o’clock. Just before the accident the Black Cat was towing. They had just finished a tow and were landing the dredges, which were landed on the port side. The sorting benches were also on the port side. They had landed the after dredge and were preparing to land the forward dredge. Before doing this he had to tighten a nut on the winch. He was just lifting the dredge and had got it above the water when he noticed that the men had disappeared from the forrard bench. Witness went round the after end of the wheelhouse to the starboard side, and just as he got to the edge of the wheelhouse one man rushed past. “I looked up and saw the Rita right on top of us,” witness said, “and she appeared to be heading practically amidships.” Witness added that the Black Cat would not be any more than half the length of the Rita away when he saw her. He could not estimate her speed, but she was goinging pretty fast because there was white water at her bow. Witness’s vessel was moving slightly. The man behind him had jumped into the wheelhouse, although witness did not see him go there. He had the wheel hard aport and had put the clutch in. Witness told him to lift the clutch out and jump clear, and the man did so. The man was Ryan. Before Ryan’s action in putting in the clutch, witness’s vessel was not moving, except under the drift of the tide, which was at ebb. There was a fairly strong tide running and it was carrying them approximately west sou’-west. His vessel was heading somewhere about south. Witness demonstrated with two small models the manner in which he stated the Rita struck the Black Cat. The collision occurred at a point abaft the beam, at a slight angle. After the first impact the Rita appeared to go out again and then come in, striking the Black Cat a second time. The Rita’s stem went straight through the Black Cat’s chafing batten, which was six inches by four and a-half inches, and then through the bulwarks and about three planks of the deck. She also went through a stringer of jarrah about 6in by 4in. The Black Cat heeled over to port, the water on the port side being about two feet up the deck. After that the vessel rolled back to an upright position. Witness had a look down below, but there was too much water to stop the hole from the inside. The Rita was by this time taking the Black Cat in tow, but the Black Cat was sinking and it was necessary to cast off the tow rope. She sank shortly after. No distinguishing mark had ever been used in the Bluff fleet, as far as witness knew, when dredging for oysters. When attending to the dredges there was nobody at the wheel, but witness had been at the wheel immediately before that to tow the dredges and to slow the engine up when it was required; also to lift the clutch when the dredges were leaving the bottom. NO BOAT ABOARD The Black Cat had a few life belts—he could not say how many—and one life buoy on the deck. They had no boat aboard. There were six men and a boy aboard that day. He thought there would be more than seven lifebelts. After the clutch was dropped in by Ryan the vessel did not have time to gather way, but had swung slightlv to port. Had she not swung slightly to port she would have been hit practically at right angles. When they were dredging the Rita was a good bit to the west or west sou’west. The distance would be about a quarter of a mile. The last time he had seen her before the accident she was heaving her dredges. The nearest vessel to them when they dropped their

T dredges was the Karaka and the nearest • at the time of the accident was the Waitangi. A look-out was kept only when the boat was under way, but not when the dredges were being handled. The Waitangi was on the port beam at the time of the accident. • To Mr Sinclair: The oyster winch “ was after the wheelhouse. On most of these trawlers the winch was forward of the wheelhouse. He had been hove to about five or six minutes before the collision. The second impact was on the same part of the Black Cat. The bow smashed into the engine room and threw an air bottle about Bft long and weighing three or four hundredweight across the top of the engine. The Black Cat never started up a drift until both the dredges were on board, because both the winches were driven by the engine. If they lifted the dredge with the engine going at full steam they would probably pull a mast down or kill a man. If they had been going full speed ahead with the fore dredge out the clutch would be likely to slip. Moret over the wire might have fouled the propeller. Witness usually started up 3 the engine himself, or if he did not do L so it was done under his orders. He was working with his back to the Rita 1 at the time of the collision. He saw , none of the crew of the Rita when he looked as the vessel was too close. To Mr Reed: It was time to get out • of the road when he saw the white wash at the bow. He lifted the dredge just clear of the water, and seeing no 2 men about let it go again. He. had , made all preparations to swing it m- ! board if the men had been there. Two men should have been at the bench. 1 The winch made a good deal of noise » and it was quicker to go and have a look than to call out. The dredge was running down in the water when he • went to took for the men. 5 “Will you swear she was below the water?” asked counsel. Witness: Yes, I will swear it. i Witness added that one lever stopped i the winch and another brake con » trolled the dredge. One man rushed 1 past him so quickly that he was nearly knocked over. He saw McQuarrie and 1 Waitiri when he was heaving in the » dredge. At the time of the accident . Ryan and a boy were having a meal and 5 McKenzie was somewhere about there, . too. The crew consisted of himself c (the master), Evan McQuarrie, Boko Waitiri, Philip Ryan, L. D. Ryan, Arj thur McKenzie and the boy. Witness j was a partner in the company, which 1 was a co-operative company consisting • of witness, McQuarrie, Waitiri and Mc- ’ Kenzie. They were joint owners of the „ ship, and witness had been master of ’ the vessel for about three years. He 2 had had his river ticket since 1923. He had taken it out for the tourist traffic 3 to Stewart Island. This permitted him 3 to be master of a vessel under six tons 3 and carrying passengers. To reverse, ’ the vessel had to be slowed down and f a wheel was turned. Opened out fully 5 the Black Cat would do 10 knots. The ’ Rita was a fairly slow boat, but he ' would not say she was the slowest. The Black Cat would be drawing about 7ft 6in at the time of the accident. Other boats in the vicinity were the Karaka, I Waitangi, Toiler, Sir William Wallace. £ Dispatch and Harere. NOBODY IN WHEELHOUSE r i He had fixed the wheel before the - collision and there was nobody in the s wheelhouse at that time. Although the r engine could be controlled from the t wheelhouse if they wanted to go astern f they had to go below to the engine t room, which was alongside the door of r the wheelhouse. Just before the acciI dent the Black Cat was only moving , with the drift of the tide, and had no ' engine power at all. V/itness did not touch the wheel at all during the i course of the collision. The impact was , very sudden, but he would swear that j before it the boat turned slightly to port. He deduced that from the posi- . tion pf the boat after the accident and , not from anything he felt at the time. ’ “You look upon yourself as a good, careful skipper?” asked counsel. Witness: I do. Witness said he had last seen the lifebelts while they were painting the J boat before ■ the opening of the oyster 1 season. He did not know how many 5 there were and there was no boat. ’ “So your safety devices were pretty , poor,” said counsel. 1 Witness said that there was no dan- ‘ ger with the other boats there. Thev 3 had carried a boat until last year. 3 To Mr Macalister: The Ryan who was > having a meal at the time of the col--1 lesion was not the engineer, but a brother. t Captain H. M. L. Joss, master of the 3 Rita, said he held a certificate for a 25- ' ton vessel. The Rita was a wooden vessel of a gross tonnage of 40.18 and a net t tonnage of 5.15. Her over-all length was ■ over 60ft and the beam was 13.7 ft. The r vessel was propelled by steam. He ar- , rived off Ruapuke at 5.15 a.m. and • dredged there most of the morning. ’ They had their last haul before the collision somewhere about 10 o’clock, and ■ then proceeded approximately northl east, steaming at the usual rate, be--5 tween five and six knots. Just as thev s started to steam ahead he looked to see : where the Black Cat was. He had pre- ■ viously been aware that she was in i the vicinity, and witness saw her 150 ; to 200 yards off, three or four points on , his port bow. Witness watchedl her as . they started, saw her land the after i dredge and then go ahead. She con- ; tinned to go ahead at a faster speed i than the Rita. She seemed to be travel- . ling at a fair rate, and appeared to be ; cutting the Rita’s line across, heading in a south-easterly direction. Witness proceeded on his course, keeping an eye on the other vessels ' and the Black Cat in particular. He ’ expected her to take steps to keep clear . : as she was on his port hand, and it was her place to do so. When the Black ' Cat started to get way on he saw a man in the wheelhouse looking out of the starboard side window. He kept ; on his course, still watching the Waitangi on his starboard bow, and watching for the Black Cat to make some move to keep clear. He called the attention of one of his crew, James Shannon, to the Black Cat. Shortly after the Black Cat started moving ahead he realized there was danger of a collision, and when things were beginning to look a bit dangerous he hauled off a little to starboard—about half a point. He could not go any further because the Waitangi was close up to his starboard bow and there was a risk of foul- • ing her. He told Shannon to hold the wheel, and stopped the engine himself. , He had to take two steps from the wheel ; house door to do this. The engineer ( was coming up the ladder and he told j him to go full speed astern, which he , did. He did not think the Rita would be two lengths off the Black Cat when he stopped the engine. He immediately . went astern. Up to this time the Black Cap ap- . peared to make no move to avert the collision and seemed to be bent on . crossing his bow. A few seconds after the engines were put astern the two boats came together. A lot of their j headway had been taken off but the , Rita never gathered stemway. They , struck the Black Cat somewhere amidships, and the Black Cat seemed to be practically square across their bows. “At the time of collision the Black Cat seemed to me to be travelling very fast across our bows,” witness said. Asked if he could have taken steps earlier than he did, he said it was not his place to do so. He expected the Black Cat to take steps. She was a smart little vessel and could manoeuvre ] well in close waters. His boat was not < as smart as the Black Cat. 1 At the speed he was travelling it J would take two or three lengths to bring 1 his vessel up to stop. He had not seen a basket displayed at the head of a I vessel for 30 years. I “You realize that your statement is g

diametrically opposed to Mr Johnson’s statement that the Black Cat was not travelling,” said Mr Macalister. “Do you adhere to that?” “I do,” said witness. Witness added that when he saw the Black Cat under way the forward dredge was not landed, and at the time of the collision was swinging at the head of the derrick. Witness had over a dozen lifebelts on board his vessel. McQuarrie, one of the crew of the Black Cat, asked for lifebelts, saying that they had none. Witness also had a boat aboard. To Mr Reed: The Black Cat was at no time stopped just before the collision, and he saw no slackening of speed. She seemed to be coming at a fair rate from the start. Witness had been captain of the Rita for seven years. He did not think his vessel would do more than seven knots. “You have heard it stated that you went into the Black Cat twice,” said Mr Reed. Witness: “That’s not true. When they were coming in witness asked Phil Ryan, who was in the wheelhouse with him, what he meant by trying to cut across the bows. Ryan said he was at the wheel and thought they could pass, whereupon witness said they should never have attempted it. Harold Ryan remarked: “That’s what we get for trying to race you.” Mr Sinclair: Once you turn and start up the drift again it is a case of all hands on the oysters, isn’t it? “On some ships,” said witness. “Has it ever been done on your ship?” asked counsel. Witness: No. Witness said that he would sometimes help when the boat was stopped. He had left the wheel and helped with the oysters, but only when they were clear of other vessels. At such times he would occasionally go back to the wheel and straighten it up. Witness denied that on the occasion of the collision he had left the wheel. He saw the fore dredge on the Black Cat come up and go down again and at the time of the collision it was hanging in the derrick. The Black Cat appeared to be going very fast in a sou’-easterly direction, and witness was going north-east. In steaming ahead witness was relying on the rule of the road at sea. “And you did nothing to avoid the accident?” asked Mr Sinclair. “It was the Black Cat’s place to do that,” replied witness. BLACK CAT’S SPEED He did not hear a member of the crew of the Black Cat call out to him to look out when he was 50 yards away. If the call was heard on the Waitangi he could not understand why it was not heard by him. He would maintain that the Black Cat was going at full speed for 150yds right up to the time of the collision. After striking the Black Cat he sheered off, and then approached to throw a tow rope and life belts aboard. The Rita did not strike the Black Cat more than once. McQuarrie came on board the Rita as soon as she struck. He kept running about giving orders and they had to tell him to be quiet. McKenzie came aboard at the same time. He would contradict a statement that it was after a second contact that the men jumped aboard. He denied absolutely that there was a second contact. To Mr Macalister: He could not say when the Black Cat’s fore dredge was hauled up into the derrick. He thought at the time that it looked dangerous swinging there. William Pokoa Waitiri, first hand of the Black Cat, said the forward dredge was hanging over the side when the collision occurred and the after dredge was landed. The forward dredge was not at the head of the derrick at the time of the collision. He had not discussed with the others ,the question of where the forward dredge was at the time. He gave a yell to draw everybody’s attention to the fact that the Rita was near by and vzent on with his work. He then heard McQuarrie, who was about eight feet away, yell out: “Look out, Mark! Where are you going?” The Rita then was just a few feet off. To Mr Sinclair: The first time he saw the Rita he did not think there was any danger, for there was plenty of time for the Rita to swing either way. Philip Ryan, engineer of the Black Cat, said that the boat was hove to before the accident. There were two bumps and witness jumped aboard the Rita the second time. The inquiry was adjourned until 10 o’clock this morning, when the evidence of the crews of the vessels will be heard.