ILL-FATED SHIP

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 433, 14 May 1937, Page 2

ILL-FATED SHIP

( SCATHING COMMENT I ’■ “T i Sinking Of Hall Caine Sydney, May 10. When presiding at a Court of Mar_ • ine Inquiry into the foundering in ! calm weather of the 213-tons steamer I Hall Caine near Broken Bay. Judge ’ Curlewis made scathing comment on j the vessel’s condition. “It was a co.f--|-lin ship that should never have put ‘ to sea,” he sla.id. I Judge Curlewis found that the j caute of the Hall Caine’s sinking—- | fortunately without loss of life —was I that the hull was re-ten and the handpump in bad order. “We have had I evidence,” he said, “that she was a | chwork job. She had to be pat ch|ed up every year, and she was 25 j years old. There had been cobra ; (ship worm) in her. The engines | were not fi ted with governors to pre. I vent racing and there wa.- in way lof controlling the racing except by I the wheel throt le, which was very slow. “The Hull was Rotten.” I “The boiler was such that it was only possible to have Ihree inches of water in the boiler gauge glass, otherwise there wa s not enough pressure to provide steam,” said the Judge. ‘The boilsrs were imperfect; ihe pumps were imperfect. The reasons the ship sank were that the hull wps rotten; the hand-pump was in bad order and not properly fi.-ted with a strainer; the other pumps could not be worked, because the boiler could mot supply them with s'earn; and the engines w’-ere not fitted with governors to stop racing. On the whole, the ship should not htave gone to [sea.” [ Luke Wright, secretary of Cam and | Spns, Limited, the owners, said that I the company made a practice of re„ i placing her planks systematically from time to time,. The replacements were I not done all at once because 1 it. wtas I a question of expense. [- “I thought so,” • commented Judge ( Curlewis, “The trouble is that a ship | does not sink a bit at a time-—it sinks j altogether. I Witness’s Allegation. To a shipwright surveyor who had tic- ailed certain replacements, the Judge .said: “It sE-eme 1 to me that she was getting rotten. 1 should suggest the only way., to. deal with a wooden ship afer 25 years is with an axe.” “Oh, no,” replied the witness. “If they are looked after they are quite all right.” The judge, smiling drily, remarked: i“With new engines, new masts and i a new hull,, she would have been la good ship?” Oiptain W. G. Lawrence, secretary of the Merchant Service Guild, said: “There are a number of vessels in commission which are a risk to the lives of the men who man them, I have seen them around the wharves—vessels in which no seaman cares to ship. But what can they do? The job is offered, they need the work and they sail in them. There is no Government supervision of loading alongside the coast. Except at a few Northern Rivers sports, there is no competent harbourmaster or other of-

ficial to decide whether a ship is in a fit condition to put to sea or not. Secret List of Ships. i “With worn-out old ships, loaded badly and put to £>sa with machinery and equipment in poor repair, you have all the fac ors which lead to a casualty,” said witness. “It is one thing to patch up a new ship which has been damaged in an accident, it -s quite another matter to patch up a wornout ship. if Khe ii ves of sea _ men are worth considering, this patching of old tubs must not be allowed any longer.” The New South Wales secretary of the Seamen’s Union, Mr. Herbert, said seamen had a secret list of ships on which, they never signed unless forced to by circumstances, because they considered them T know six or eight small coastal I vessels on which I always advise men [not to sign,” fie said. “These ships are exempt from the manning scb.le of the Commonwealth Navigation Act. They a r e not even required under State Legislation .to. carry qualified able seamen, firemen and greasers.” Divided Supervision. The president of the Marine Services Board of New South Wales, Mr. E- W. Austin, said his officers took every precaution to see that ships operating on State licenses were in a Proper condition to sail. “An owner of a vessel has the right to elect whe ther he shall said under a Common wealth certificate or a State certificate,” said Mr. Austin. “The Hall Caine had a Commonwealth certifi. ca e. Naturally, state officers do not overstep their authority to inspect -'.hips with Commonwealth certifi cafes.”