occur. It is the ability to deal with them from a departmental and government point of view that is sadly lacking. Richard Charteris, New Plymouth
Sadly, getting HFO off ships is not that easy, as most are designed to take it and not give. Ed…
Dear Sir
I am an ex-merchant seaman and was at sea from 1948 to 1958. During this period I was not involved with any problems re ships running aground. I am sure in those days ships had competent crew, and in an emergency there was enough men to deal with the situation. This is not the case now. Also, every member of the crew on the ships I sailed on could communicate in English. I know of a skipper on one of these container ships who said half his crew could not communicate. His ship was 120,000 tonnes with a crew of 31.
I sailed on the 11,000grt MV Hertford, and if I remember correctly we had a crew of 34. All the ships I sailed on were British, sailing under the Red Duster, most of the ships now are foreign flying the Red Duster, yet may never visit a British port. This is because of a tax concession between the company that owns them and the government. My old ship, the Hertford, was sold to the Arabs, and I think on her first trip her bottom was ripped out when she ran aground outside Port Said. I had some great times during my visits to New Zealand, a great little country. It saddens me to see the damage the Rena is doing. Let's face it; the reef it hit is well charted, so to me it is down to an incompetent crew.
John Appleton, United Kingdom
MUSEUM EXHIBIT Dear Sir
I felt compelled to contact you and say what a great article the
SS Great Britain story was. I have visited this vessel in Bristol and can say that it's one of the best maritime exhibits I have seen. Full credit to R Lea Clough for getting all the history and technical knowledge into a short story and in such an interesting and informative manner. I look forward to reading the next article.
Keep up the good work. Dave Burke, Cummins Onan Generators
SPIRIT REFIT Dear Sir
Another good issue of Professional Skipper. I take my hat off to you for your efforts and well-earned success. The publication plays a valuable part in New Zealand's non-yachting small craft concerns and successes. Referring to Pony Moore's letter (July/August) re the Spirit of New Zealand's major refit, Barry Thompson comments: Pony took me to task for what he refers to as a need for "an added correction" to my contention that the Spirit of New Zealand was underpowered with the Gardner motor installed at the time of her commissioning in 1986. Certainly the Spirit of Adventure, (note: Adventure) to which Pony refers in his letter and of which he had considerable experience, had ample power. She had a Cummins motor, not a Gardner as his letter suggests, and was an impressive and exceptional motorsailer.
For the sake of an accurate record, I have to say that Pony appears to "have his wires badly crossed" in his reference to the two vessels. Captain Jim Varney, my successor as the trust's deputy chairman, who was also very familiar with both
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