The growing size of cruise ships

[Robert McDonald]

Well, Phil, your acceptable loss of life ratio, while inhumane, fails to take into account the terror experienced by the survivors. Just like you send your kids to school each day, and expect they make it home, our newspapers are full of first person accounts of the chaos on that vessel.

And avoids the issue of first officers being the first off these floating malls.

[Seano]

Its interesting how the Owners are leaving the Captain to take the wrap and disassociate themselves from the incident.

The video from last August shows that this wasn't the first time that the Island has been buzzed before by this Line (here for anyone who hasn't seen it http://video.corriere.it/nave-concordia-al-giglio-/9dfa5ea6-3e9b-11e1-8b52-5f77182bc574)

Surely the Owners have a duty of care to ensure that their vessels are not being 'misused' in this way by studying AIS data plots.

Seano

[Jens Boldt]

Is there anyone who is really surprised that Costa Crociere did not and does not know anything about such hazardous manoeuvres and that there's only one person to blame, the captain?

Non vedo, non sento, non parlo... I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing...

[Seano]

Is there anyone who is really surprised that Costa Crociere did not and does not know anything about such hazardous manoeuvres and that there's only one person to blame, the captain?

Non vedo, non sento, non parlo... I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing...

Isn't that my point - in this day and age the owners of the vessel have access to AIS data in real time.

From the BBC news tonight, I saw that the close passage shown in the video that I linked in my earlier post, had been authorised by Costa Crociere. It was stupid to take a 114000 ton ship that close in then, it was equally dumb on Friday.

The days of the Captain being the sole master of 'his' ship and acting in isolation really are over even if Costa Crociere might like to believe that they are not.

Either way the Captain, First Officer and Costa Crociere are going to be held to account although some of the guilty may only loose their jobs rather than their freedom.

Seano

[peterredd]

Well there is a lot of talk about the captain of the ship, iam no expert at all[ i worked on the sea for 8 years] but not on ships this size.. My question is why didn't any of the other officers on board query this course.. When i used to do a watch in the bridge, i was the only one on watch. if i saw a situation that warrants a change of course to avoid a situation i made the change and if i wasn't sure i informed the skipper.. Surely these ships have many on the bridge at any one time..So was this usual course, and if not surely even the lowest ranked officer would have seen this as a danger..


Cheers

[Tuomas Romu]

My question is why didn't any of the other officers on board query this course.

I am not familiar with the Italian culture, but in more authoritative cultures subordinates questioning the decisions made by the superior are are out of the question, a bit like in the (traditional) military. "The captain is always right" and so on.

I hope that's not the case this time.