SYDNEY FERRIES CLAIM £30,000 FROM UNION COMPANY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18897, 23 October 1929, Page 4

SYDNEY FERRIES CLAIM £30,000 FROM UNION COMPANY.

SEEK DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GREYCLIFFE IN HARBOUR COLLISION. (United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) SYDNEY, October 22. The hearing has commenced of an action by Sydney Ferries, Ltd., claiming £30,000 from the Union Steam Ship Company for the loss of the Greycliffe, which sank as the result of a collision, near Garden Island, with the Tahiti, on November 3, 1927, when thirtyseven lives were lost. The Ferry Company’s counsel said that he would call evidence to prove that the Greycliffe was run down.— Australian Press Association. Thirty-seven deaths resulted from a collision between the overseas steamer Tahiti and the ferry steamer Greycliffe in Sydney Harbour on November 3, 1927. At the same time a very large number of people were injured. The ferry' was practically cut into halves, and many of those drowned were carried below in the wreckage, the services of a diver being necessary to recover the bodies. At the inquiry which followed, it was stated that, when the ships were moving on parallel courses, the Grey' cliffe swefved in front of the Tahiti but the evidence was most conflicting. Considerable technical evidence was given as to speeds and courses and the effects of inter-action, the Tahiti’s architect being one of the principal witnesses. He criticised the evidence of the officers of the Tahiti. The first inquiry found that the captain of the Tahiti had made an error of judgment, and that the speed of that ship was in excess of that permitted. The pilot who was on board the Tahiti was suspended. Writs for injury issued against the Union Steam Ship Company amounted to £30,000. When the inquest was reopened in January, 1928, further technical evidence was received, and the Coroner found that both parties had been negligent. The resulting claims for damages were held up pending the evidence from England, which came to hand last July.