Papers Past Newspaper Archive: The Press
Title: Broken Pipe Held To Be Cause Of Joyita Disaster
Date: 14 April 1956, Page 12
Publisher: New Zealand Government National Library
URL: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19560414

BROKEN PIPE HELD TO BE CAUSE OF JOYITA DISASTER
The formal Commission of Inquiry into the casualty to the motor vessel Joyita, which was found drifting and abandoned in the South Pacific last November, has released its findings in Apia.
The commission, chaired by Judge C. C. Marsack, determined that the flooding of the vessel was caused by a fractured cooling pipe in the raw-water circuit of the port auxiliary engine. This break, which occurred due to galvanic corrosion, allowed water to flow into the bilges.
Because the vessel lacked watertight bulkheads and the bilge pumps were clogged and unserviceable, the water gradually flooded the lower decks, causing the ship to list heavily and lose steering.
The report severely criticized the master, Captain Thomas Henry Miller, for putting to sea in an unseaworthy vessel, noting that the ship was operating on only one engine and that the radio had faulty wiring which restricted its range to two miles.
Despite establishing the technical cause of the flooding, the commission ruled that the fate of the 25 passengers and crew was inexplicable on the evidence submitted. No signs of the missing people or the ship's life rafts have been found.