Dangers of the high seas

[odindj]

Italian ferry captain 'let passenger steer'
The Daily Telegraph August 17
An Italian ferry captain risks losing his job after being caught on video allowing a 25-year-old woman passenger to take control of his vessel. Michele Siniscalchi, 54, has been suspended after he apparently allowed Maria Rosaria Federico to steer his hydrofoil as it travelled across the Bay of Naples at high speed. Miss Federico, dressed in a short white skirt, joked with him after he let her take command. A girlfriend of Miss Federico's filmed the episode on her phone and posted it on the Internet. The captain has insisted the woman was never in charge of the hydrofoil because the controls had been disabled.

Comment: Two drunk captains lost their job during last several days, in alchohol-related accidents in Sweden and in New Zealand. But there

[Richard Matterson]

If the Master of a vessel can't let someone else steer under his or her command then how are we ever going to encourage the youth of today into a life of at sea?

The blunt bureaucrats that make rules and regulations and who have no idea on real life should all just crawl back under their desks and leave those of us that actually enjoy life to get on with the fun and excitement that is modern day seafaring!

Richard.