Page 146 - Collision Avoidance Rules Guide

In the Admiralty Court Mr Justice Hewson said:
After weighing up this case and the evidence and the circumstances with
what I hope is all the care of which I am capable, I am driven to the conclu-
sion that a total lack of a sense of the urgency of the problem posed by radar
navigation in fog in Captain Meredith was a contributory cause of the colli-
sion, and this sense of urgency and importance should have been instilled in
him from the highest level.

In the Court of Appeal Lord Justice Sellers said:
A primary concern of a shipowner must be safety of life at sea. That involves
a seaworthy ship, properly manned, but it also requires safe navigation.
Excessive speed in fog is a grave breach of duty, and shipowners should use
all their influence to prevent it. In so far as high speed is encouraged by radar
the installation of radar requires particular vigilance of owners.

Lord Justice Willmer said:
In the course of his evidence Captain Meredith was cross-examined at some
length on his log records of various previous voyages undertaken in condi-
tions of fog. This led in the end to an admission by Captain Meredith that he
had for years habitually navigated his vessel in fog at excessive speed.
Mr Robbie (the marine superintendent) gave evidence to the effect that on a
number of occasions he had spoken to Captain Meredith, and to the masters
of the other vessels, about the problem of navigation in fog with the aid of
radar. This evidence of Mr Robbie was, however, denied by Captain
Meredith, and was disbelieved by the learned judge. It became quite appar-
ent from the cross-examination of Mr Robbie that, although all the ships’
logs were regularly submitted to him, he had signally failed to check the
records contained therein with a view to ascertaining how The Lady
Gwendolen was being navigated in fog. It would not have required any very
detailed examination of the engine room records in order to ascertain that
The Lady Gwendolen was frequently proceeding at full speed at times when
the deck log was recording dense fog. Yet this fact appeared never to have
been detected by Mr Robbie, and consequently was never brought to the
attention of Captain Meredith.
It was said that the lack of managerial control shown in this case was
to be contrasted with the practice prevailing in other companies where
‘the management had evolved an effective system for keeping a check
on the way in which the companies’ vessels were navigated’. However,
it was not suggested that any pressure was exerted upon the master to
keep his schedule. It was stated that the radar problem was one of such
serious import as to merit and require the personal attention of the

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