Wreck Report for 'Arbutus', 1883

(No. 1722.)

"ARBUTUS."

The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876.

IN the matter of the formal Investigation held at Westminster, on the 10th of March 1883, before H. C. ROTHERY, Esquire, Wreck Commissioner, assisted by Captains COMYN and DAVIES, as Assessors, into the circumstances attending the stranding of the sailing ship "ARBUTUS," of Shoreham, near Naseby, on Öland Island, on the 31st of October last, whilst on a voyage from Grangemouth to Stockholm.

Report of Court.

The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances of the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the reasons annexed, that the stranding of the said vessel was due to the negligent navigation thereof by John Steel, the master, in having, in the courses set and steered after passing the South Light on Öland Island, made no allowance for the current, which was running to the westward; and in having, although he knew at 3.30 a.m. that he had got into only ten fathoms water, neglected to take another cast of the lead in order to ascertain and verify his position.

For these wrongful acts and defaults the Court suspends the certificate of the said John Steel for three months from this date.

The Court is not asked to make any order as to costs.

Dated this 10th day of March 1883.

 

(Signed)

H. C. ROTHERY,

Wreck Commissioner.

We concur in the above report.

 

(Signed)

D. R. COMYN,

Assessors.

 

 

T. DAVIES,

 

Annex to the Report.

This case was held at Westminster, on the 10th of March instant, when Mr. Beaufort appeared for the Board of Trade; the master and the chief officer of the "Arbutus" were present, but were not represented by either counsel or solicitor. Three witnesses having been produced by the Board of Trade and examined, Mr. Beaufort handed in a statement of the questions upon which the Board of Trade desired the opinion of the Court. The master of the "Arbutus" was then heard on his own behalf, and Mr. Beaufort having replied for the Board of Trade, the Court proceeded to give judgment on the questions upon which its opinion had been asked. The circumstances of the case are as follow:—

The "Arbutus" was a wooden barque belonging to the port of Shoreham, of 364 tons gross and 349 tons net register. She was built at Southwick, near Shoreham, in the year 1863, and at the time of the casualty which forms the subject of this inquiry she was the property of Mr. Francis Gauntlett, of No. 7, Gloucester Terrace, King's Road, Southsea, who was also the managing owner. She left Grangemouth on the 26th of September last for Stockholm, with a crew of 10 hands all told, and about 600 tons of coal; but meeting with contrary winds had to anchor off Elsinore. After being detained there for about three weeks she continued her voyage, and at about 9 p.m. of the 30th of October came in sight of the light on the southern point of Öland Island, which then bore about north, distant between 8 and 10 miles. At that time, we are told, the vessel was on an E.N.E. course, and was making from 3 1/2 to 4 miles an hour, the wind blowing a fresh breeze from about S.S.E., and the weather being somewhat hazy. It was the mate's watch, from 8 o'clock to midnight that evening; but at the moment of sighting the light the master was on deck; he, however, soon afterwards turned in, leaving orders with the mate to alter the course of he vessel to N.E. by N. when they got abreast of the light; by which, I presume, he meant when the light was abeam, that is, when it bore N.N.W., the course of the vessel being E.N.E. At midnight the master again came on deck, and at that time the vessel was upon a N.E. by N. course, and he kept her on that course until 3.30 a.m., when he took a cast of the lead, which gave him 10 fathoms. By about 4 a.m. the master had altered the course to N. N.E., and the mate coming on deck about a quarter of an hour afterwards, the master went below, telling the mate to keep her on that course. Shortly afterwards the mate went forward to see that there was a look-out forward, and when he had got about half way along the deck the ship suddenly struck, The master immediately came up, and at once ordered the topsails to be backed and an anchor to be carried out seaward, but all in vain, as the vessel remained fast. At about 6 o'clock the agent for Lloyd's Salvage Association came off, and they then found that they had grounded on some rocks about a mile from the shore, and near a place called Naseby, which is some 25 miles up the east coast of Öland Island. Nothing more seems to have been done that day; and at 4 p.m., as the wind and sea were rising, they went ashore for the night. The next morning a steamer, which had been engaged by the Salvage Association, arrived, and they then pumped the vessel out, and, having jettisoned a portion of the cargo, succeeded in getting her afloat, and she was thereupon taken by the steam-tug to a place called Kalmar. The cargo having been discharged the vessel was put upon the patent slip, where she now is undergoing repairs, the keel and bottom having been seriously damaged.

These being the facts of the case, the first question upon which our opinion has been asked is, " (1) Whether safe and proper courses were set and " steered after sighting the South Light on the " Öland on the 30th of October, and whether due and " proper allowance was made for the tide, currents, " and leeway"? And the second question is, " Whether a safe and proper alteration was made in " the course at midnight and at 4 a.m. an the 31st of " October, and whether due and proper allowance was " made for the tide, currents, and leeway"? Had the vessel been where the captain says that she was at 9 p.m. of the 30th October, and had the courses which he says he subsequently steered been made good, they would no doubt have taken the vessel well clear of the Öland Island, but the master told us that after they were aground he found that there was a current running from the E.N.E. at the rate of about a knot an hour, which would be setting him directly towards the island. He said that he had made no allowance for it, not knowing of its existence, as it was not mentioned in his book of sailing directions. Courses, therefore, which made no allowance for a current which was setting him at the rate of a knot an hour towards the shore were obviously not proper or safe.

The third question which we are asksd is, "Whether " proper measures were taken to ascertain and verify " the position of the vessel at 4 a.m."? It is not pretended that any measures were taken at that time to ascertain and verify the position of the vessel.

The fourth question which we are asked is, "Whether " the master was justified in neglecting to take a cast " of the lead after 3.30 a.m."? Having ascertained at 3.30 a.m. that he was only in 10 fathoms water, he ought to have known that he had got dangerously near to the coast. He stated that he was under the impression that he was at the time about 10 miles from it, but a glance at the chart would have shown him that the line of 10 fathom soundings runs at an almost uniform distance from the east coast of Öland of from 2 to 3 miles. The fact then that he was in 10 fathoms water should have shewn him that he had drifted some 7 or 8 miles to the westward, and rendered it imperatively necessary that he should keep the lead continually going, so as to prevent his still further shoaling his water; the more so as the weather, we are told, was then thick and foggy. In our opinion the master was not justified in neglecting to take a cast of the lead after 3.30 a.m.

The fifth question which we are asked is, "Whether " the master was on deck at a time when the safety of " the vessel required his personal supervision"? When he found that the vessel was only in 10 fathoms, it was the master's duty not to have gone below until he had got her into deeper water and into a place of safety, instead of which he turned in, leaving directions with the mate to continue her on the same course, and in 10 minutes afterwards she was aground. In our opinion he was not on deck when the safety of the vessel required his personal supervision.

The sixth question we are asked is, "What was the " cause of the stranding "? The cause of the stranding was that the master put his vessel on a course which he supposed would take him some 9 or 10 miles to the east of the Island of Öland, but without making any allowance for a current which it seems was setting him to the westward at the rate of about a knot an hour, and which, not being allowed for, would necessarily take him upon the island. This, in our opinion, was the cause of the casualty.

The seventh question which we are asked is, "Whether the vessel was navigated with proper and seamanlike care"? A vessel which is being navigated along a dangerous rocky coast without any allowance being made for a current which is setting her at the rate of one knot an hour towards it, can hardly be said to have been navigated with proper or seamanlike care.

Lastly we are asked, "Whether the master and chief " officer are, or either of them is, in default"? And it is added that "the Board of Trade are of opinion that the " certificate of the master should be dealt with." So far as the chief officer is concerned, it appears to us that no blame can attach to him, as he only obeyed the orders of the master. The whole blame for the casualty rests with the master. To put the vessel on a course, and to keep her on it, without seeing whether she was being affected by the current, when a little reflection would have shown him by the soundings which he obtained at 3.30 that she had then been set some some 7 or 8 miles to the westward of her course, and that if the same current continued to act upon her she must inevitably in a short time run ashore, was a blind way of proceeding. He is an old man, and has a master's certificate of service which he has held for 37 years, and we think that a suspension thereof for three months will probably meet the justice of the case.

The Court was not asked to make any order as to costs.

 

(Signed)

H. C. ROTHERY,

Wreck Commissioner.

We concur.

 

(Signed)

D. R. COMYN,

Assessors.

 

 

T. DAVIES,

 

L 367. 1494. 150.—3/83. Wt. 171. E. & S.