Jaguar in the final stages of cut up
nine months, fully manned. These were serious faults that had gone undetected by Lloyds Central America who had certified her as perfectly seaworthy only weeks before. The British delivery crew were fired and a New Zealand crew sent across. In April 2009 Kelvyn paid for a Maritime NZ surveyor to travel Business Class to Panama to inspect the Jaguar. He compiled another list of deficiencies that needed to be rectified before the ship could sail for New Zealand. Kelvyn appointed a Marine Superintendent to go to Panama and liaise with all those concerned: local authorities, Lloyds, Maritime NZ and contracting firms. His report makes shocking reading, with photographs of the serious defects overlooked by surveyors. Costs in Panama exceeded US$3 million. Jaguar sailed for New Zealand in September 2009 arriving in
Timaru in November. More issues were discovered during passage and on arrival. These were serious enough to prevent her from carrying cargo and had had somehow gone undetected by Lloyds Central America in Colombia, Panama and by the Maritime NZ inspection.
In January 2010 Jaguar carried her first paying cargo, a load of bulk grain, some of which was found on unloading, to be wet. The cause was seawater leakage from corroded ballast tanks. The hardwood sheathing over the tank tops was lifted. These were not fastened down, but were held by an interlocking system which allowed them to be easily and quickly removed to allow inspection and servicing of the tank tops. Five tanks under number two hold had a total of 80 holes, the metal was paper-thin in places, and from the large amount of scale, rust and dirt and the severely corroded state of the fuel and ballast tank tops, it was obvious that this had not been done for a long time. Pressure testing of the tanks, a normal part of a survey, would have revealed these problems. The ship was in dry dock in Lyttelton for survey in August 2010. Her hull had been sandblasted and painted, and work to replace the tank tops was about to begin. At the same time, Black Robin Freighter's financiers, South Canterbury Finance, collapsed and went into receivership. Jaguar, along with Black Robin Freighters, thus became one of the assets which passed into the hands of the receivers who ordered all work to stop. Despite Kelvyn's pleas not to waste the money that had already been spent on her so far, the receivers, BDO Ltd, sold the ship to Stark Brothers Ltd in Lyttelton, who broke her up for scrap. BDO appointed Leslie Shipping to continue to operate Rangatira on the Chathams trade pending sale of the ship and assets. Several parties, including the Chatham Islands Enterprise Trust, expressed an interest in buying the business but nothing eventuated. In May 2012 Kelvyn put forward a proposal to form South East Shipping Ltd, which would buy the business and assets of Black Robin Freighters and continue the trade. This was accepted, and Rangatira continues in the service.
November/December 2012 Professional Skipper 55
VIPP.S72 S772
VIP.S85
