NZ engine inspector tells inquiry signature was forged [1]
Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 18:52. Updated on Friday, May 16, 2014 - 17:55.
A New Zealand inspector who inspected the main engine of the Princess Ashika vessel in Fiji in April 2009, revealed to the Royal Commission of Inquiry, he never signed an Audit Document for the Ashika as he never knew one existed.
David Shaw, the Director of Shaw Diesels Ltd, gave evidence on January 13 and confirmed that he did not see the Audit Document until September last year when a New Zealand Transport investigator interviewed him in Auckland.
The purported two documents submitted by Jonesse were titled Audit completed and signed by David Shaw of Shaw Diesels Services Ltd dated April 9, 2009.
The witness on the other hand confirmed never signing such a document and his company's name was in fact Shaw Diesels Ltd. not Shaw Diesel Services Ltd as purported on the document.
The Assisting Counsel to the Commission Manuel Varitimos asked him whether he ever authorized Jonesse or any other person to place or sign on any document, and he replied "no".
The counsel submitted whether he accepted the proposition that the two copies of the audit attached to his statement reflect someone having forged his signature on the document, the witness said "yes".
Corroded
The witness said in April last year, he was in Suva doing a repair on an engine on another vessel and was contacted by Jonesse to see if he would look at the engines generator sets of the vessel between April 6-8, 2009.
On April 6 he went to the wharf at Natovi Landing where the vessel, Ashika was docked and went straight down to the engine room and checked the engines while they were cold.
He took some pressure readings and noticed that the No. 6 starboard main engine was down on exhaust pressure and both heat exchanges on the generator sets were leaking salt water because they were very badly corroded and someone had put plastic metal over the holes to keep them going.
He confirmed going with Jonesse from Natovi Landing to Levuka, a trip taking an hour-and-a-half to two hours, and stayed overnight before returning to Suva the next morning. He said the water was flat calm with no ripples, like sailing on a sheet of glass.
The hatch coamings, which was round the entranceway into the engine room where the deck comes up to the side, had holes all around and water could get in the engine room quite easily. He confirmed the holes were created by rust.
Badly maintained
The counsel submitted to the witness it was clear to see that the vessel was in a very bad condition and had been very poorly maintained. He answered in his opinion, the vessel was very badly maintained and there was rust everywhere.
He confirmed not being asked to inspect or offer any opinion on anything other than the main engine and the gen sets and when he asked Jonesse if he required a written report, he was told a verbal one would do.
The witness added the Ashika engine was a slow speed Daihatsu heavy-duty Japanese manufactured engine and the model type used was very outdated, built in the 1970's. He added there was rust in and around the engines.
The counsel suggested that if parts were required for the engine, it would take at least two months to come from Japan to Fiji and would cost tens of thousands of dollars, the witness agreed.
"Could I suggest that, given the age of the engine - the outdated model, the difficulty in getting parts, the time delay in getting parts - that, in practical terms, the engines were worthless in terms of resale?"
The witness replied, "yes, unless you could find an operator who was using the same engine and is prepared to buy them."