THE KAIPARA INQUIRY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2735, 14 February 1910, Page 5

THE KAIPARA INQUIRY.

CAPTAIN AND OFFICERS EX-

ONERATED

[Peh Press Association. ! AUCKLAND, Feb. 12. The Kaipara inquiry has concluded. The Court found that the vessel struck an uncharted shoal in the Rangitoto fairway. They comnletely exonerated the captain and officers, and complimented them on the manner in which the vessel was extricated from the trap into which she had fallen. The speedy survey of the harbor is urged. In this connection thel Coxirt commented on the masterly inactivity and supineness of the Auckland Harbor Board. .

Evidence was adduced showing that the San Francisco mail steamer Sierra touched bottom in the same locality as the Kaipara seven years ago. The Court found that the casualty was not in any way caused, by carelessness. negligent navigation, or error of judgment on the part of the master, but was due entirely to the erroneous, misleading information in the chart as to the depth of water where the vessel struck, the position of the- western luminous buoy, and the absence of any warning on the chart of the existence of a rocky patch at the place where the vessel struck. The Court found that the captain made sufficient endeavor to ascertain the cause of the vessel’s list before leaving port; that the. list 'lid not contribute to the casuality. The Court commented on the fact that the Harbor Board had not been made a party to the proceedings, and suggested that it was the duty of all harbor beards to have a thorough and reliable survey of the principal waterways within the harbor limits and leading to the wharves, docks, etc., and masters of vessels should be furnished with accurate and reliable charts. According to the evidence, the rocky patch on which the Kaipara struck is in the fairway of Rangitoto Channel, is not shown on the Admiralty charts, and is not referred to in the New Zealand Pilot or Nautical Almanac. In the Court’s opinion, there is urgent necessity for an early and exhaustive survey of the Harbor, more especially Rangitoto Channel, from the harbor limit at Rar.citoto beacon to the wharves.