wahine footage 3

[@woofblitz3694]

I was always amazed at how Robertson was able to find a way to exonerate himself for the loss of those lives and a fine ship... the court erred, in my opinion, and served to protect a person who definitely was at least partly responsible; that is what being the master of a ship is about, accepting responsibility. The Wahine was not overcome by a system which exceeded her capabilities, she was very capable of weathering the storm, but in electing to attempt to enter the harbour, when the sea conditions were already severe and deteriorating rapidly, with a forecast that indicated it would get even worse, in poor light, in very poor and deteriorating visibility, with important electronic navigational equipment that was malfunctioning, I believe the captain was reckless in the extreme. The obvious and significant risk of a broach, given the conditions, should have been ringing alarm bells in any mariner's thinking that morning. A sea worthy craft was broached as a result of the decision to attempt to enter the harbour, the wave(s) that subsequently broached the ship was/were not rouge at all, with the wind strength and direction, waves of that size should have been anticipated to be present and considered very likely to be encountered, in fact, inevitable. The captain took a huge risk, control of the ship was lost as a result, and then he became lost in a critical location where that could least be afforded. He subsequently passed commands, perhaps in panic, or perhaps due to him being foggy from being sleepy (having only come on bridge a few minutes earlier) which contributed further to the precarious situation in which the vessel was placed. Wahine was lost due to human error, to suggest otherwise is to suggest that it could not have been prevented, which is wrong. Also, it is clear that, despite denials made by the Captain, Wahine did get so far west of her course as to be almost entirely into Chaffers Passage, but not quite clear of Pinnacle Rock; her right rear quarter crashed against the rock, taking out the starboard prop and its shaft, as well as her right rudder. Divers established that the severe damage to the rock was limited to the western side of it, and it is clear that the starboard quarter/rudder/ prop area of the ship is that part of the ship which contacted the rock. The only way that could possibly be so is if the ship were on the western side (the Chaffers Passage side) of the rock. There were several heroes that tragic day, but to me the most heroic of all was the ship herself. Despite what she had been put through, which by rights should have resulted in her breaking up and sinking on the reef or thereabouts, which would have resulted in the loss of almost all on board, she managed to survive until a window of opportunity to save those souls on board presented itself, at which point she succumbed to her massive wounds. RIP the 53 souls who perished, especially the children, and RIP TEV Wahine.

[@michaelgrey7854]

What would you have done better, given the same knowledge and circumstances as the Captain? Sometimes hindsight can be a bugger of a thing. As a ship though, the Wahine was one of the best designed ferries to survive as long as she did. She was a true lifboat to so many, just sad that it was not enough.