CHAPTER IV. WANT OF LOOK-OUT, AND OTHER FAULTS. NEXT to improper steering, the principal instances of faulty navigation, which may render a ship liable for collision damages, are want of look-out, going too fast in a fog or through a crowded roadstead, and anchoring or mooring in an improper place. These will form the subject of the present chapter; reserving for separate consideration, in the chapter which is to follow, the regulations concerning ships' lights and fog signals. look-out. I. On the subject of look-out, we have the follow- Want of ing decisions: The ship Mellona was making her way through the Cockle Gat, on a dark hazy night, with frequent snow squalls. The look-out consisted of the master and one seaman; the master had gone below to look at his chart, when another vessel, which had not been observed in the darkness, ran into the Mellona. The question was raised in the Admiralty Court, whether the look-out on board the Mellona was sufficient. It was for the Trinity Masters, said Dr. Lushington, to advise him whether, considering the state of the night, and the proximity of other vessels, such a look-out was a sufficient and What is a proper look-out. Look-out less on starboard proper look-out. "It is no excuse to urge," he continued, "that, from the intensity of the darkness, no vigilance, however great, could have enabled the Mellona to have descried the George in time to have avoided the collision. In proportion to the greatness of the necessity, the greater ought to be the care and vigilance employed; and I cannot but think that, under all the circumstances of the case, if the master of the Mellona found it necessary to go below for the purpose of consulting his chart, he was bound to have called up another of the crew to supply his place on deck." The Trinity Masters took the same view, and the Mellona was pronounced in fault for insufficiency of look-out (a). It is of course a matter of importance, not only that there should be a man or men on deck for the purpose of looking out, but that these should be stationed at the proper places. In the case of paddle steamers plying in a river or crowded' roadstead, such as the river Mersey, the proper place for a look-out man, it appears, is the bridge between the paddle boxes, from which elevation he can obtain a clearer view of approaching vessels, and can more rapidly communicate with the steersman (b). As the immediate purpose of a look-out is to give timely notice with a view to the alteration of the ship's course, a look-out would seem to be less essential in the case of those vessels which, being closehauled on the starboard tack, are entitled to (a) The Mellona, 3 W. Rob. 7. hold on their course without alteration, from whatever direction they may be approached. In a case in which Dr. Lushington observed in his judgment that "it appeared that there was not any particular look-out on board" a vessel thus circumstanced, the Trinity Masters nevertheless found the other vessel solely in fault (a). In another case, a sailing vessel was drifting up the river Thames, and no proper look-out was being kept: she was run into by steamer, which ought to have avoided her. Here, notwithstanding the want of look-out, the steamer was pronounced solely in fault. "We think it right to say," said Dr. Lushington, "that there was a want of a proper look-out on board the Jane and Ellen, but that that want of a proper look-out did not contribute to this collision" (b). All these cases fall within the general principle that, to render a ship liable for collision damage, it is not enough that there shall have been a fault; that fault must have contributed to the collision. Applying this principle to the case of a vessel closehauled on the starboard tack, it is not easy to see how, under ordinary circumstances, the want of a look-out on board can "contribute to the collision." fast in a fog. II. Another fault of navigation consists in pro- Going too ceeding at an excessive speed, in a crowded road (a) The Progress, 7 Mitch. 433. Case of steamers in frequented channels. stead or during a fog, so as unduly to increase the risk of collision. In the case of the Perth, a steamer going in a fog through a place much frequented by coasters, and going at the rate of twelve knots an hour, was held in fault, partly on account of her excessive speed (the Trinity Masters said she ought to have been reduced to half-speed); and partly because her engines were not stopped when shouting was heard from the other vessel (a). In the case of the Rose, where a steamer was coming down the Bristol Channel, during hazy weather, at the rate of ten or eleven knots, Dr. Lushington said that, if she had come into contact with another vessel without either seeing each other, he should have pronounced the steamer in fault. It might be a matter of convenience, he observed, that steam vessels should proceed with great rapidity, but the law would not justify them in proceeding with such rapidity if the property and lives of other persons were thereby endangered. The same rule had been applied by Lord Ellenborough, in a case where the driver of a mail coach, having run over and killed a man, excused his rapid driving on the plea that by contract with the post-office he was compelled to go at the rate of nine miles an hour. To this Lord Ellenborough said that no contract with any public office, no consideration of public convenience, could justify the (a) 3 Hagg. 417. endangering the lives of his Majesty's subjects. The principle so laid down applied to the case of vessels navigating the seas (a). In another case, a steamer was condemned for proceeding through a part of the sea much frequented by colliers, in a dark and rainy night, at from nine to ten knots an hour (b). The following are cases in which steamers were condemned for going too fast; the Iron Duke (c), for going from ten to twelve knots an hour, in a dark night, in a frequented channel off Point Lynas; the Despatch (d), for coming up the Horse Channel at ten knots in a dark night. The having a Government contract to Mail contract go at so many miles an hour is no excuse, as against other vessels, for using undue speed (e). A steamer which in a dark night is rounding-to in order to come to anchor, should do so cautiously, and easing her speed (f). And a rate of speed, which may not in itself be improper, may become so if it is continued after another vessel is sighted, in such a position as to involve risk of collision. Thus the steamer Eclipse was held in fault because, after coming in sight of a vessel, too late perhaps to have avoided her, her engines were kept going at full speed (g). In the case of the Birkenhead, (a) 2 W. Rob. 3. (b) The Gazelle, 2 W. Rob. 519. (d) Swab. 139. (e) The Vivid, Swab. 92. (f) The Ceres, Swab. 250. (g) Eclipse, 1 Lush. 423. is no excuse. |