Phe following correspondence, which has been courteously handed to us for publication, will be read with much interest 'The Shipmasters' Suciety, 60, Fenchurch Street, London, B.C.
25th October, 1898.
Tue Assistanr Secretary, Marine Department, Board of Trade, Whitehall, 8.W.
Sr,—I am directed by the Shipmasters' Society to draw your attention to the Tnvestigation which was held at the Court of the Resident at Aden from the 7th to the 23rd days of May, 1898, into the circumstances attending the stranding of the British steamer China on Perim Island. The print of the report is numbered 5763. The atticer Mr. Crawford who by the judyment of the Unurt was severely censured and reprimanded under the circumstances hereinféer named is nota member of my Society but my Committees deem it their duty in the interests of the officers of the Mercantile Marine to lay their views before your Board in order that the sentence of the Court so far as it regards Mr. Crawford may be reconsidered on the following grounds, the printed Report it appears to have, been held before th Political Resident, ho was an offi Majesty's army, ithe Assessors assisting him were the Commander of H-BLS. Cossack and Comm nder Simpson of the Royal Indian Marine. From this i would apposr that one of the Assessors only, that is Commander Simp son, can have any experience with Mercan. tile'affairs, although there is no evidence before my Committee to show the sai Commander Simpson had any such experlence of Mercantile Marine, By the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, Sect. 466, Subsection 4, it is provided that where the Investigation is likely to involve any question as to the cancelling or suspension a Master, Mate, or Engineer, the Court shall have the assistance of not less than two Assessors having experience in the Merchant Service. By the Indian Merchants' Shipping Act 1883, Sect. 13, the same languas used, namely, that two persons having experience in the Merchants'
shall act as Assessors where: the Investigation ix likely to involve the cin-celling or suspension of such Certificate, and although that as altered by Act No. 6 of 1891, the tion did not affect the Clause in the Indian Act above referred to, Tt appears, therefore, to my Committee and Tam directed to draw your particular attention to the fact, that the Court in question was not properly constituted under the Act of Parliament authorising such Investigations to be held, in that at most one Assessor only, and that is a matter of doubt, ice in the Merchant Service, and that therefore the Court not being properly consti invalid. T might mention in thi tion there would be no difficulty in getting the danger of alteration of the course to N 48 W was made by him to the Third Officer, Mr. Brooks, and to the Chi Officer: The Chief Officer does not to have contradicted Mr. Crawford 'Third Officer in his evidence confirms Mr. Crawford and the result of the evidence jas between the Captiin on the one sids and Mr, Crawford on. the other, simply mounts to this, while Mr. Crawford says he did tell' the Captain, the Cap-says he does. not recollect mentioning anything of the kind to him, he Captain, "and the Court' censures Mr. Crawford because he neglected to make the Master comprehend the re
did not hear it and their own impression Dreseutaton and they only Gnd the Blaster jupon the matter that he was steering too tine, and in' this connection the Court further finds that they consider the Of of the watch should have his responsibility {fixed as well when the Master is on the bridge as when he is no, t and that so far as legal' responsibility goes the Officer of the ware' so fur as being of assistance to the Master might disappear when the Master takes over. This finding of the Court appears to my Committee to be open to very weave qi To what extent is an Officer to differ from his Captain? Mr. Crawford in this ease eat ried out the relers of the Master in the alteration mote in the course, and it is singular that having told the Eh old. the Third Ofiver who relieved him on the bridge of his views of the position of the alan told the Onptaln, in says he did not hear, Crawford or any er under the circumstances tw take? If he puts himself in absolute conflict with his Master there would be as Assessors at Aden perso {an end of discipline ant it is perfectly perience in the Merchant Sei clear that if the Captain hid understo proved if necessary by the Me. Crawford's representation he would vessels that were at the time of the Enquiry not havi altered his course because at Aden and whose Msatera would have he says that the order he been competent persons to ncbas Assessors, gave for altering the course was in uccor-(2) Apart from the question of the legality nce with his usual custom ov sighting of the constitution of the Court Iam directed Perim Light, and that the bestings when draw the Board' ious nttenti lio currie on' deck and the position of the to the effect of th not only as re-vessel so reported to him were exactly as regards officers imilar tu those when making the Strait. in the Merchant Sei other than Cap-night on former homeward voyages, tains, Tels perfectly clear from the evidence We submit for the consideration of your which my Committee have perused that Mr.
Beal that there was nothing in the eon-Crawford who was severely censured by the duct of Me, Crawford to justify the Court Court hint left the bridge and gone off duty in the severe censure that was passed upon for a period of 19 minutes anterior to the and further that the expression ut vessel getting ashore, and that anterior to opinion by the Court secking to fix rethe bridge and down to the sponsibility, not only in this case but in of her striking, the Captain had been others, on the Officers who may be on the in command and Mr. Crawford had been, as bridge when the Captain is in sole charge, stated, relieved by the Third Officer. During would lead to the most dangerous results the 19 minutes after Mr. Ceawford had Finally, we have to request your Bo been relieved there was certainly ample on the grounds above stated to exercise time for those in command of the bridge to their right in the matter and to reverse the have avoided the casualty, It further ap- decision of the Court ao far as it affects pears from the report of the evidence in Mr. Crawford. this case that the orders given by the Master through the Officer that Mr. crawford relieved, were punctually and properly carried out by him, the orders being as stated in the Report of the evidence that on Peri High Light being seen he was to let the Captain know xt once and to haul the ship up to bring Perim High Light right ahead. Tt is not contested in the evidence that both these orders wore carried out and that when the Captain came on the bridge his attention was directed to the Perim High Light and its bearing and the alteration of the course that lal been mad" in pur-snaries of his'instructions, 3) The ground upon which the severe censure was passed upon Mr. Crawford is stated in the Judgment of the Court to be, that he neglected, to see that the Master comprehended the representation which he has stated he made to him upon the vessel's course and which the Master states and the Court believes he never heard. We would point out that asa matter of evidence the statement of the Second Officer about Tremain, Yours truly, (Sgi.) A. G. Troup, Secretary, i {Copy.]
Board of Trade, (Marine Department,)
7, Whitehall Gardens, London, S W., 17th December, 1898.
Gexruemex.—With reference to previous correspondence relating to the Enquiry held at Aden into the stranding of the s.s, China Tam directed by the Board of Trade to inform you that, having regard to questions which have been raised with regard to the Constitution of the Court and other circumstances connected with the finding of the Court, they have decided, in pursuance of the powers vested in them by section 475 of the Merchant Shipping Act, to order the Investigation to be res
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.