Archive - WINTER 1999

The Director MSA replies to 'Internet grumbler
Women in our industry - Teacher put a tiger in her tank   by Dee Pigneguy
No passage monitoring or lookout as trawler goes aground (TAIC report)
Ferry thrusts into the forefront (TOPCAT)
GLOBAL MARINER - Life at sea no bowl of cherries

Ferry thrusts into the forefront     by Pic Picot

Imagine four hydro dam tail races. Picture them mounted on the back of a catamaran and pointed at the South Island.

Topcat, the new Cook Strait ferry, has 7457kW driving each of her four jet units. This is a bucketful of thrust in anyone's language, and when it is pushing the latest vessel from one of the world's leading fast ferry builders, something dramatic is bound to happen.

Topcat weighs just 550 tonnes lightship and hurtles across the water at more than 47 knots - the same power-to-weight ratio as a 10 tonne, 560kW launch. Fully laden, Topcat can carry 180 cars, a dozen semi-trailers, 550 passengers and an overweight journalist to Wellington in an hour and a half.

Topcat went into service in New Zealand on May 10. She was built, commissioned and spent four months working in Tasmania as Devil Cat before she was sailed to New Zealand. Whether she suffered any of the teething problems Tranzrail's Aratere endured in her first few months of operation we will probably never know - the Tasmanians are fiercely and justifiably proud of their shipbuilding industry. Suffice to say that at the time of writing she has only missed two out of 170 sailings - both due to bad weather.

Brooke MacKenzie's Fast Cat Ferries Ltd signed a seven year lease agreement with Incat in March. The vessel was to be handed over in Wellington on April 29, giving just six weeks to assemble the 60 crew and 20 support staff needed. The off season start up coincided nicely with the Lynx's annual closedown, giving the company a ready-made pool of well-trained staff to dive into.

Brooke MacKenzie first came to the ferry business in 1994, when he leased the Albayzin from the Spanish shipyard of the same name. The Albayzin could carry 350 passengers and around 100 cars, but she was that yard's first such vessel and was dogged by mechanical problems.

As service reliability was crucial to the success of such an enterprise, MacKenzie relinquished the lease after only four months.

The rise and fall of the Albayzin was followed by the arrival and subsequent departure of two other Cook Strait ferry companies. Bill Porrit and Jeremy MacLeod put the Straitrunner, a 30m monohull, into service towards the end of 1996. She ran for five months until breakdowns and bad weather closed the service down.

In February 1998, Bill Doak took over Straitrunner's Paremata terminal and launched Seacat. Seacat was a well financed, carefully run operation, with its own 24m cat, Te Hukatai. But the company depended on high passenger numbers over winter, when the Tranzrail's Lynx was out of operation.

Tranzrail started their Lynx fast ferry service in 1994, chartering Condor 10, an earlier Incat ferry, from the end of November through to Easter, returning her to the United Kingdom each winter for use in the English Channel. Last summer was to be the final season with Condor 10, and this year the Lynx service will be using the newer, slightly larger Condor Vitesse.

With the arrival of Topcat, Tranzrail announced that they had come to a remarkable agreement with Condor's owners that would see the ferry parked up during the week and used only in weekends. It was around this time that Seacat withdrew from the Cook Strait and leased Te Hukatai to a company in New Caledonia. There is an average market of about 400 passenger crossings a day through the winter, and with three vessels on the run there were going to be more than 3000 seats available.

Fortunately for MacKenzie, Condor's owners came up with a better deal in June, and accepted a lease for the vessel on the east coast of the United States, leaving Topcat as the only fast ferry over the winter. Topcat is now running two return trips each day, departing Wellington at 0715 and 1315 hours, and departing Picton at 1015 and 1645 hours.

Professional Skipper is issued a complimentary ticket for the first sailing from Picton, and it is a beautiful, frosty Marlborough morning when I pass through the passenger door at the back of the booking office and see Topcat for the first time.

She is a very impressive sight. The ship is berthed stern to, and looking at her from beam on, Topcat's hulls tower above the wharf. With half as much topside height the vessel would look fairly unremarkable, but something like 10m from waterline to the deck gives her the presence

of an aircraft carrier. The hull finish, which is bare aluminium, adds a purposeful look to what is obviously a fairly radical design.

It is a bit of a hike across marshalling yards and a railway line or two to get to the loading pontoon, from which a short ramp leads on to the main vehicle deck. This cavernous carpark effectively runs the full length of the ship, and is completely open at the stern, a hydraulically operated rail closing it off when leaving the dock. The deck has a width of around 20m, and if the loading ramp was wide enough, six lanes of vehicles could drive straight on in.

At the far end of the main vehicle deck, a mezzanine with ramps on either side provides additional parking space and access to two further vehicle platforms. One of these platforms is suspended above the centre lanes of the main deck, and can be raised to the deck head to give clearance underneath it for trucks, or lowered to provide two car decks within the same area.

The lowering platform itself is remarkable. It is three cars wide and built entirely of aluminium, with athwartships beams every 4m. It is decked with an aluminium honeycomb panel which is less than 50mm thick, yet carries the weight of three vehicles. I begin to feel like an earthling on an alien spacecraft.

The other platform is open to the clear blue Marlborough sky and ramps up to the front windows of the passenger lounge. It is conceivable that a stupendously large wave could break over the bows, sweep down the ramps and wash out the stern - taking the vehicles with it. Whether the prohibition on passengers entering the vehicle deck while at sea is related to this I am not sure, but there is some ingenious thinking behind this unusual arrangement.

By leaving the for'd end of the vehicle deck uncovered, the designers have not only made obvious savings in structural weight, they have also allowed vehicle emissions to be vented naturally, removing the need for ventilation fans, additional fire dampers, extra overhead sprinklers and so on.

A staircase at the after end of the port hull leads up to the passenger deck. There is no need for a lift, with the vehicle ramp taking care of wheelchair access. The passenger cabin is light and airy, surrounded by windows, and divided into seven separate areas with an interesting variety of seating arrangements.

There are the customary rows of aircraft-type seating, sets of armchairs clustered around coffee tables, and six-seater booths with dining tables. A bar and food service area is in the centre of the vessel, with a toilet block at the after end. Smallish deck areas on the aft quarters provide solace for smokers and the digestively indisposed.

The floor is covered with a mixture of carpet and a convincing wood-like material. It has a slight give to it, one of the few concessions to weight saving apparent to the casual observer. Run your hand along the underside of the beautifully finished bar top, however, and you will notice that the whole thing is no more than a few millimetres thick. The wall linings look fairly standard - pastel laminate finished and fitted between aluminium extrusions.

But a small hole made in preparation for a light fitting tells a different story. The panel has a total thickness of about 8mm and a core of what appears to be aluminium honeycomb. It's obviously very strong and light.

Cappings, partition edgings and other trim in the cabin are stainless steel, but here again it has been beautifully folded from minimum thickness sheet. The overall effect belies the effort made to keep weight down, and there is almost no aluminium to be seen in the passenger areas.

The toilets are built around good, solid cubicles, and a locked door leads to a truck driver's shower - one of the perks of buying a $2000 ticket. The urinals are properly placed athwartships, and the floor has an aluminium silicate non-skid vinyl that should ensure a safe footing, regardless of what else happens to be on it. The only odd note is the toilet paper dispenser, a beautiful stainless affair that must weigh at least a kilogram.

A staircase aft of the food servery leads up to an observation deck, which would have reminded me of an airline club lounge if I had ever been allowed in one. A door in the back of the deck reveals a stairway leading back down to the passenger deck, and another door marked "staff only".

Behind this door is a decent-sized room completely lined with electrical panels, switchboards, monitors and all kinds of stuff that no one in their right mind would want to touch. In the centre of the room is another staircase leading up to the bridge. John Wysocki, first engineer and the ship's electronics specialist, is poking around behind a panel mounted with what appear to be the clever bits of the innards of dozens of computers.

This particular panel manages the steering system, looking after such functions as the autopilot, engine speed, thrust reversal, nozzle direction, raising of the aft trim tabs, helm station selection and so on. It also checks on and organises the commissioning of the backup steering systems in an emergency.

Another multi-switched panel with a digital screen is one of a series of nine placed around the ship that jointly monitor every measured function on board - from the state of each of the smoke sensors to the engine bearing temperatures.

Data from these panels is then relayed to a pair of computers on the bridge, which organise the information into associated sections, adding features such as checking routines, tolerance details, reference information and so on.

In one corner of the switch room, a computer is tracking information from a series of stress gauges mounted around the hull. The transponders for these are 50mm strips of ceramic material with a wire attached, which are glued to various structural members. They record tiny stretching movements in the fabric of the hull and relay this information back to the computer.

The data is correlated with readings from a wave height recorder mounted near the bow, and the file is e-mailed a couple of times a week to Incat's design team in Tasmania. Incat's engineers then use this information to alert them to any abnormalities that may be appearing in the hull, and as a design database for future vessels.

A flight of stairs in the middle of the switch room leads up to the bridge. The chief engineer, the master and the mate are seated in front of an array of screens, knobs, levers and buttons which would do Star Wars proud. I keep my mouth shut and watch. There are the two VDUs of a Litton Isis integrated ship information system in front of the chief engineer, John Tenor. One of them is currently showing the state of the fire protection system, the other is reporting on some obscure engine functions. A couple of video monitors above his head are cycling through views from cameras mounted in the engine room, the vehicle deck and various other parts of the ship.

At the master's station, Dave Cass peers across the screen of a 10kW Litton radar that sits directly in front of him, a panel of engine controls and one of two Leica differential GPS units to his right. Steering is taken care of with a 10cm diameter wheel mounted on the right hand arm of his chair. (Left handed applicants need not apply!) Overhead, a series of gauges provide compass, rate of turn and thrust direction information. A Transis electronic chart screen sits between him and mate John Gore on his right. The mate has his own radar to look at - the same make, but operating on a different band and three times as powerful as that of his captain.

Behind them, a docking helm station overlooks the stern. There are no wing bridges (another weight saving measure), but there is a very good line of sight from the bridge to the after edge of the vehicle deck, video monitors watch the length of the hulls, and the docking crew constantly radio closing distances. The catamaran's width, combined with the flexibility of the jet units, mean she can be driven backwards, forwards or sideways at will.

There is constant reporting between the master and the mate as we head out of the Marlborough Sounds - the positions of any other vessels are checked, their courses assessed and plans made for the next few minutes. Anticipation is the key to safe navigation in a vessel of this size and speed - always thinking about a minute ahead.

Fears have been voiced about the risk of collision in the Tory Channel, and what might happen if the two fast ferries and a couple of pleasure boats were to mix it up on a blind corner. Topcat can go from 42 knots to a dead stop in 700m, but takes only a few seconds to cut her speed back to a relatively sedate 15 knots. A succession of horn blasts and two radio calls are made prior to entering the channel, and all the ferries have a very good idea of each other's location at all times.

Residents and boat owners in the sounds, concerned by the wash of the Lynx, were deeply alarmed at the prospect of an even bigger fast ferry. Topcat's wash, however, has proved to be considerably less than that of the other fast ferry, and is much less of a problem than the wash of the some of the conventional ships.

A 2m slop greets us in Cook Strait, and the ride control system comes into play. There are T foils at the front of each hull with wing flaps similar to those on an aeroplane. A computer links the foils with two aft trim tabs and directs their movement using information from strategically placed motion sensors.

The system quickly learns the characteristics of the wave patterns we encounter, anticipating pitch and roll and adjusting the ride accordingly. The degree of damping is under the control of the bridge, as too much can adversely affect the vessel's speed.

A row of odd looking yellow doodads with hoses and levers sticking out of them are the vacuum operated controls for the lifesaving equipment. With about a 10m drop to the water, aircraft type inflatable slides provide an effective, weight efficient means of evacuation.

The slides and the 100 person liferafts are built by another Tasmanian company, Liferaft Systems Australia, which now supplies and services such equipment all over the world.

Safe ship management schedules were prepared largely in Hobart and easily dovetailed to the New Zealand regulations, with final training assisted by the delivery crew, who stayed in New Zealand, for about a month after the ship arrived.

After our arrival in Wellington, John takes me down to the port engine room. Two slowly cooling enormous yellow engines are lined up on the inside of the narrow hull. An offset drive shaft on the for'd engine runs beneath the catwalk and powers the outer jet unit.

The four main engines are 18 cylinder Caterpillar 3618s. Built especially for high speed marine use, they produce 7457kW at 1030rpm and carry a price tag of around $6 million apiece. A team of specially trained Caterpillar engineers swarm all over them at the end of each day, checking and measuring in accordance with a maintenance schedule designed around the engines, their use and the vessel's timetable. As with the stress monitoring system, engine data is constantly flowing from the vessel to the engine's manufacturers in America.

There are a couple of Caterpillar genets in each hull, each with an output of 230kW, and cunningly managed associated switchboards that provide auto-sequencing abilities or complete isolation of the system in either hull. All the switch gear is designed and built in-house by Incat.

Emerging from the engine room, I make my way across the vehicle ramp on to the quay, just in time for a trendy Wellington lunch before the return trip. Topcat's sheer aluminium topsides tower over the adjoining sheds, and the lunchtime crowds pause between bites to look her over.

There's something about her that reminds me of the old flying boats - a really exciting piece of machinery, not quite fish and not quite fowl, but very 2000.

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The Director MSA replies to 'Internet grumbler

Dear Keith

Thank you for forwarding the comments of the Internet Grumbler, who had also been in touch with our Maritime Radio contractors BCL, who likewise forwarded the message to me.

I appreciate the opportunity to clarify the following issues raised by the Grumbler:

Illegal operators having an unfair commercial advantage over legal operators Enforcement and costs
The role of the public, including MTA members, in making complaints about illegal operators
Whether or not the MSA follows up complaints about illegal operators
Safe Operational Plans and skipper qualifications
An accident involving Department of Conservation staff on board a vessel in the Southern Ocean

Illegal operators

We totally agree that people who operate a boating business without meeting the legal requirements to do so have an unfair advantage over those who operate legally and incur the cost of doing so. Not only is it unfair, it is also UNSAFE.

The legal requirements relating to commercial vessel operation are, above all, designed to ensure operations, boats and people are SAFE. The MSA incurs costs as it, in consultation with the industry, devises workable systems to improve safety and promotes and implements these systems.  Operators incur costs complying with these systems.

You may view these as the cost of mere systems, but you may see them as the price we pay to ensure measures are taken consistently across the industry to reduce deaths and the loss of vessels and businesses caused by poor operational procedures.

Costs and Enforcement

I am often asked why there aren't more MSA staff out on the water, cracking down on illegal operators.

Simply, the MSA has only 15 field staff (Maritime Safety Inspectors, MSIs) who undertake inspections and carry out a range of other maritime safety duties.  The MSA was not designed to be an agency capable of presenting a major "on water" presence.  While some local authorities and the police do have a stronger presence, and we work actively with them, we simply do not have the numbers I believe the Grumbler wants to see. 

To employ more people to patrol and enforce would cost you, the end user, more.  The minimum Marine Safety Charge (for commercial vessels of eight metres in length) is $100, which funds our 15 MSIs and a great variety of maritime safety activities. There are approximately 3000 commercial vessels in New Zealand and some 240,000 recreational boats (potential illegal operators).  If readers want to pay more for us to do more, please tell us so. 

Public Responsibility

The MSA and the maritime community want a safe, flourishing maritime industry.  We try to achieve this by developing a collaborative approach to safety and by putting a lot of effort into education, awareness and self responsibility.  These are much cheaper operations than "policing". We do NOT ignore enforcement. Again, our policy is to seek collaboration in the process of enforcement. Enforcement, given our current level of resources, can be achieved more effectively and less expensively if operators work with us (by reporting illegal operators) rather than adopting the approach, "it's not my job to dob someone in. I'll leave that to the bureaucrats".

However, anonymous and vague complaints of illegal operations do not help us to investigate or take action. We need quality information from you about illegal operators.

The MSA has put procedures in place to ensure that complainants' names and identifying details are not revealed to the accused.  Reporting an illegal operator is a simple process requiring only a telephone call to your nearest MSA office, and the supply of good information.

The MSA will do the (as the Internet Grumbler put it) "dirty work" of investigating the matter, compiling the evidence and bringing the prosecution when sufficient evidence is found.

I should also say that much of this investigation goes on in an undercover manner, by necessity. You may not see us at work on the problem, but we are not ignoring it.

Complaints

Since 1997, the MSA has received around 65 official complaints about illegal charter operators.

All of these complaints have been investigated.  In some cases the alleged operator could not be categorically identified because of a lack of information. For instance, in more than one case the complainant could not provide the name of the vessel in question. In that kind of situation the investigation may stall at a very early stage.

The MSA usually hires private investigators to look into illegal operations.  More than once, such investigators have discovered that there is no illegal activity taking place.

On the other hand the MSA has obtained convictions against two people charged with operating illegally.   The process, I should add, is a long and costly one and, to be worthwhile, relies on the courts to hand out "appropriate" penalties. 

SSM, SOPs and Skippers Tickets

The MSA has not, so far, prosecuted anyone using private vessels to get to their place of work in the Marlborough Sounds.  We have adopted an educational approach, informing such people one to one and through such publications as the Marlborough Express, Seafood New Zealand and New Zealand Professional Skipper, of the requirement to enter ALL eligible commercially operated vessels into Safe Ship Management. This approach is being taken because the system is new, is continuing to evolve (see below) and because many such operators are facing these requirements for the first time. 

This  approach will not continue indefinitely.

Safe Operational Plans (SOPs) currently apply only to commercial jetboat and rafting operations. On 1 February 2000 they will apply to the following vessels:

• Fishing vessels less than 6 metres in length which operate within enclosed waters or not more than 2 miles from the coast. (Note: to be a fishing vessel, the vessel must be registered with Ministry of Fisheries)

• Commercial diving boats of 6 metres or less in length which operate within enclosed waters or not more than 2 miles from the coast.

• Commercial hovercraft

• Sailing ships.

Boats that are used to 'ferry' non-maritime operators of all sorts around the Sounds do not fit into the SOP categories and must instead enter Safe Ship Management.  If you would like to clarify your compliance requirements, please contact your local Maritime Safety Inspector or 0800 SAFE SHIP (0800 7233 7447).

Currently people operating vessels under 6 metres in length are not required to obtain any qualification to operate their vessels.  However, once Maritime Rule Part 31B comes into force next year it is proposed that these operators will need to be qualified with a minimum of a Local Launch Operators Certificate or an industry training certificate approved by the MSA under Maritime Rule Part 35.  Maritime Rule Part 32 will allow existing operators who have safe operating records to use a 'grandparent' clause to obtain a certificate of service as a Local Launch Operator.

Skippers of vessels of six metres or more in length are all required to hold a maritime qualification.

The  Discussion Document  on Minimum Personnel explores these issues and Members of the New Zealand Marine Transport Association  are urged to give input to the NZMTA submission on this document.

When we have received comment from the public we will be put together a draft maritime rule which will be circulated for comment once more before being finalised, signed and coming into force on 1 February next year.

I urge you, your association and the readers of this magazine to make their opinions about these proposal known to the MSA BEFORE the drafting process begins. 

For a copy of the Manning Levels Discussion Document please contact the Safety Standards Administrator at the MSA, free phone 0508 22 55 22.

The Southern Ocean Accident

This incident involving two DoC staff aboard a vessel in the Southern Ocean is currently being investigated by the Maritime Safety Authority.  Until the investigation is complete all details must remain confidential.  However, I can say that the status of the vessel (commercial or otherwise) is one of the key questions being addressed.

Yours sincerely

Russell Kilvington
Director of Maritime Safety

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Life at sea no bowl of cherries by Dee Pigneguy

Within New Zealand, where the age of global markets, deregulated economies, unemployment and the Employment Contracts Act are a fact of life, the visit by the MV Global Mariner, the campaign ship for the International Transport Workers Federation, could be likened to a visit from an alien invader.

The ITF was founded in 1896 in London by European seafarers' and dockers' union leaders, who realised the need to organise internationally. It is a global organisation, and brings together some 500 unions in more than 125 countries.

The ITF launched its campaign against the injustices of the flag of convenience system (FOC) in 1948. This system allows the transfer of ships to flags of convenience to evade national laws and national unions. For 50 years the ITF has been seeking to establish a genuine link between the nationality of a ship, as shown by the flag it flies, and the place where it is beneficially owned and controlled.

Fifty years ago, a job at sea may have been a dream profession. Today in many cases the decline of a once proud industry is mirrored in media reports of accidents, deaths, injuries and shipping disasters.

An Australian parliamentary investigation into the safety of ships at sea concluded that "standards of crew welfare are being regularly violated, and that the position is getting worse."

Paul Neville, Member of Parliament and chair of the Standing Committee on Transport of the House of Representatives, said in August 1998 that "the abuse and neglect of seafarers constitutes both a violation of human rights and a serious risk factor for ship safety."

Concern was also expressed that some flag states failed to undertake their international obligations. In addition, the competitive nature of the international shipping industry had led owners to cut corners on implementing maritime conventions, maintaining and operating vessels and crew welfare.

Shipping was the world's first global industry, and remains in the forefront of changes to allow the free movement of capital between countries in search of the cheapest costs. In the face of this cutthroat competition, low freight rates and deregulation, the ITF has launched a global exhibition tour aboard the Global Mariner.

This is a real working general cargo vessel, showing some of the technical changes that have occurred in shipping in recent years. She can also take containers and has modern navigation equipment. A 12,778 gross tonnage general cargo "tween-decker" (formerly named Lady Rebecca), she was built in June 1979 for the Bank Line Ltd. Her original name was Ruddbank.

A major refit has altered Global Mariner to allow people to descend into the depths of the cargo holds. The ship has five holds, and each hold is divided into two by a floor or tweendeck. Watertight doors have been cut into steel bulkheads to reveal the awesome size and emptiness of the cargo holds and to allow access through the length of the vessel. Here, people enter into the world of the seafarer.

She carries 32 full-time seafaring crew, as well as the exhibition staff. More than anything else, this vessel is a floating exhibition - a combination of art and information designed to provoke public awareness and engage our emotions.

Entering the first hold, with its colourful display of flags, old photographs and a huge world map, hardly prepared me for what was portrayed in the lower holds. Full-sized photographs graphically display living and working conditions for many seafarers today.

The noise is inescapable, the clever combination of ship sounds and mood music is overwhelming, chaotic almost, in this vast emptiness, with cold draughts swirling through the open, watertight doors. The photograph Hole in the Lifeboat could easily have been entitled Hole in the Ozone Layer, if you think of our earth as our boat and our lifeboat.

Images of the plight of passengers and seafarers alike as a result of disasters at sea were disturbing. More disturbing was reading the ships' biographical data to find that it was managed by Jolly Ship Management, but didn't seem to be the responsibility of any specified owner.

Facts and figures are everywhere. Between 1992 and 1996, 126 ships were lost through fire or explosions. In the ten years to 1996, 175 bulk carriers were lost.

To escape the power of the photographs and this new vision of hell, I fled into the next hold to watch a video, passing on my way a model of the Estonia, which capsized and sank in the Baltic Sea on September 28, 1994, with the loss of 912 lives.

The video, with its images of seabirds struggling in a swirling morass of oil, the end as certain as a sink full of dirty dishwater sucked down the plug hole, the intermittent beeping of the "collision warning display" on the bridge trying to warn someone, bodies being pulled from the sea, and the Herald of Free Enterprise lunging out of the sea before finally crashing back and sinking beneath the waves, just reinforced the overall vision of hell.

No-one spoke a word, struck dumb no doubt by the thought that documenting the problems had not lead to a process to deal with the environmental and personal disaster that continues today.

The memorial to sunken vessels is hidden behind black curtains. The lighting is low, the darkness obscuring the meaning, until the light flashes brightly for a few seconds like the sudden flash from a lighthouse revealing the shoals ahead.

The registrar of ships and lives lost floated like oversized droplets of water on the global sea. This year, 1999, floated along with the rest, empty at present, but just waiting for its inevitable cargo of misery to be tallied up and inserted in bold, black print.

It was a relief to escape out onto the deck again and see the Waitemata Harbour, sun-dappled and sparkling in the clear winter sun. My welcome aboard pamphlet instructed me to walk forward. In light of the disturbing images now forged into my memory, I was confused on exactly which direction would lead forward.

Should you wish to know more about the ITF or the MV Global Mariner, check out the web site: www.itf.org.uk or contact Kathy Whelan PO Box 1103, Wellington.

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Teacher put a tiger in her tank   by Dee Pigneguy

Observing Fran Bird at the helm of the Ted Ashby, or nimbly working away in the rigging of the Breeze, it's hard to imagine that her wish to go deerstalking as a teenager led to such an interesting life afloat.

While working as a draughtswoman during the day and a dance teacher at night, she was regaled with stories of tiger hunting in the jungles of India by one of her fellow teachers. Now living in New Zealand, he had swapped tiger hunting for deerstalking. Fran swapped a coffee cake for the promise to accompany the guys on their next expedition.

It was here that Fran met her future partner, Cliff, who dreamed of cruising the South Pacific on Iona, which he was building. Although she had no previous experience with boats, Fran was soon caught up in Cliff's dream.

In 1969, with a daughter aged three and a crew of three, they sailed for Tonga. Fran shared watches and learned on the job, experiencing her first cyclone off the Kermadec Islands. It drove them 17 miles backwards in one night! In those pre-satellite days, once they were outside the 20 mile range of VHF radio contact they were on their own. The single side band was a luxury most cruising boats could not afford. And, anyway, who would come out to find you?

Nevertheless, she found travelling with her house on her back an enjoyable way of life. The clear, warm water of the tropics was magic for a cold Kiwi sailor. The fabulous cruising grounds provided endless fascination. Then there were the challenges and thrills of achievement of navigating across an ocean to arrive at a foreign port.

They met up with cruising yachts from all over the world, crewed by husband and wife teams or families. For the next three years, Fran's life revolved around being mother, doctor, assistant navigator, crew and, at times, breadwinner. Wherever they went there was no shortage of work for Cliff as a builder or Fran with her draughting skills.

Their wanderings led them to Bougainville, where Fran got a job as personal assistant to the Superintendent of Police. In this "elevated position" she was responsible for keeping in line 9000 indigenous labourers building the copper mine. "In reality," says Fran, "I typed reports in pidgin English and became well versed in the language."

Adventure called. They wanted to search for sunken Spanish galleons off the Solomon Islands. For this they needed a bigger boat, so they returned to their home base on Great Barrier Island, where they set about building the 18.8m (62ft) Oceana. The hull and decks were in place and the planning well advanced, when Cliff died of asphyxia, a result of electric shock while drilling the hole for the stern tube.

The fishing, yachting and boating fraternity combined to provide overwhelming emotional and practical support for the young widow.  Darcy Whiting and 18 mates turned up to help sand the hull. Epiglass gave the paint for the job. Peter Brenton and his skipper, Len Riley, helped by the locals, pulled the Oceana off the beach, and Bill Gibbs towed it to Auckland.

With support, Fran was able to outwardly finish the boat and live aboard tied up alongside the Herald Island jetty. But the keel wasn't on and in reality, life was a nightmare. It was becoming evident that Fran could not financially support Oceana.

A friend convinced her that she needed a smaller boat, with less stress and more peace of mind. Why didn't she swap her boat for the Spray, tied alongside? Tony and Val Pearse had sailed Spray out from England and now needed a larger boat. The deal was done. Fran moved aboard Spray with her daughter.

Fran never really thought about getting a commercial ticket until Len Sowerby approached her. He had been searching for two suitable boats, and while in the South Island he met a lady skipper... It was just the edge he needed for his new Auckland operation. Fran duly got her RLL (Restricted Limit Launch) ticket, but Len didn't buy the boats. At the time it never entered her head that she would be invited to use her ticket. In the interim she served as a deckhand on fishing boats up and down the coast.

Tied up at Kings Wharf with other cruising boats, Fran and her friends hatched a plan to sail off to Sydney. Fran had no trouble organising a crew. Many women were happy to let the men sail off into the blue, while they stayed home. For the men, getting away to sea was the answer to all their problems!

The voyage got underway, but they were forced to seek shelter from a gale in Opua. The starter motor packed up, one of the guys had to return home, another was sick, and so the trip was delayed. While waiting, Fran was offered a job with Fullers, first as a deckhand, then as a full-time skipper.

Following in Jane Taylor's wake, Fran became one of the first full-time lady skippers. She ran launches out to the Hole in the Rock and serviced the Cape Brett lighthouse. Running provisions to the lighthouse was tricky due to the sheer cliffs, small bay and big swells. While the lighthouse keeper came in a small boat to pick up stores, Fran held the boat in position to make sure no damage was done.

Living aboard Spray and meeting parental responsibilities while skippering was proving difficult. So Fran left her job and went back cruising. Eventually she sold Spray in Whangaroa and returned to Auckland to provide more stability for her daughter.

Back in Auckland, she accepted Lance Julian's offer of becoming their first lady skipper on the Blue Boats. She followed this as skipper of 1ZB's All Rounder. Journalists like Peter Montgomery and Ray Cody broadcast live from the water when covering yacht races and swimming events. These were exciting times, and Fran's reputation ensured she never lacked jobs as a charter skipper.

For a number of years Fran was not seen on the waterfront as she took time out for her family. She resurfaced again when asked to skipper the New Zealand Maritime Museum's scow Ted Ashby. With her family nearly all grown up, Fran was now free to indulge her passion for boating. Here was an opportunity to regain confidence, and to her delight she found that none of her skills had been lost in the intervening years.

Looking back, Fran Bird cherishes the family that was there for her, the kindness and spirit of brotherhood shown, particularly by the fishing fraternity for "looking after one of their own". She appreciates the sense of belonging to a like-minded group of people with an affinity for salt water.

Fran's journey through life has been sustained by her character and fortitude. No doubt about it, she certainly is one of the waterfront's more colourful characters!

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No passage monitoring or lookout as trawler goes aground

The stranding and sinking of the Korean trawler Dong Won 529 off Breaksea Island near Stewart Island last October created considerable interest among mariners and the public. Ian Munro of Stewart Island Ferry Services gave a personal account of the grounding in the Spring 1998 issue of NZ Professional Skipper. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission recently released its marine occurrence report.

Had the Dong Won 529 properly maintained her intended course she would have passed clear of the charted dangers, but the course made good led her to ground on the rocks, said the commission.

Safety issues identified included poor watchkeeping practices, preoccupation with non-watchkeeping duties, inadequate shipboard policy and procedures, and lack of policy and procedure requirements from shore management. The vessel was not required to have a safe ship management system in place, but if this had been done and adhered to, the grounding would have been avoided.

The Dong Won 529, a 68.4m ocean-going stern trawler owned by a Korean fishing company and chartered by Sanford South Island Limited, left the Solander fishing ground to the west of Stewart Island at about 1900 hours on October 5.

Because of the forecast deteriorating weather, a nor'westerly increasing to 35 to 40 knots with a 5m swell, the master decided to cease fishing at Solander and move to the fishing grounds to the east of Stewart Island. At about 0100 hours on October 6, the master and first officer left the bridge during the change of watch, leaving the chief and second officer in charge. Both incoming officers were satisfied about the vessel's position, and understood they were approaching a new way point, when they had to decide whether to turn towards the new fishing grounds, or reduce speed and stay in the lee of Stewart Island.

At about 0120 hours the chief officer reduced speed from about 11 knots to 8 knots. Ten minutes later, the first officer went below to make a safety inspection and call into the fish processing room, leaving the second officer in charge. The second officer became engrossed in completing some forms and did not monitor the vessel's progress using the various aids, including radars, a GPS monitor and a GPS video chart plotter, available to him. There was no rating on the bridge to act as a lookout or monitor the aids. The master and officers recollected after the grounding that the gyrocompass was reading between 5 and 10 degrees higher than true.

After the Dong Won struck the rocks, the master attempted unsuccessfully to get the vessel off, and at 0247 hours made a Mayday call. The crew was taken off at daybreak, while the master and four officers were transferred to another Dong Won vessel which was in the area.

Further attempts to refloat the vessel using tugs and other vessels were also unsuccessful. On October 8 she slipped partially off the rocks and fell onto her starboard side, finally sinking several days later.

In its analysis of the accident, the TAIC said it would have been appropriate for the master to document his standing orders, and to have written down his orders for each specific watch period, although he did discuss his requirements with the officers. The master's decision to move to shelter was appropriate, and his passage plan was adequate, had it been followed. The course line to the waypoint of Breaksea Island had been 065 degrees true, but no allowance had been made for the gyro error, resulting in the vessel making good a course of 060 degrees. Had positions been plotted on the chart using data from the radar or GPS, it would have become apparent that the vessel was setting down onto the rocks, and a course adjustment could have been made.

Considering the weather, the first officer should have ensured the second officer was concentrating on monitoring the vessel's passage before he made his safety rounds. The first officer's absence of 50 minutes was inappropriate. He should have returned to the bridge before the waypoint was reached, and was still absent when the grounding occurred. The planned waypoint had not been programmed into the GPS video plotter, so there was no warning alarm that the waypoint was approaching.

On May 31, following the safety recommendations of the TAIC, Sanford Timaru, on behalf of Dong Won Fisheries, said it hoped to complete an operations policy and procedures manual by August 31 for company vessels operating in New Zealand waters, including instructing masters to compile and use documented standing orders, and to document their orders relating to specific daily operational requirements.

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