Ship Simulator
English forum => Small talk => Topic started by: Stuart2007 on April 20, 2012, 16:14:05
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Disgraceful standards on ANOTHER carnival (princess) ship.
Three sailors (fishermen) on a 10ft boat. 2 die of thirst after their distress calls had been ignored by princess ship.
Was the crew grossly negligent or incompetent- two cruise passengers notified crew... or was the Master afraid that it was a pirate trap?
Either way, two people are now dead thanks to the (in)action of the crew. Yes, carnival is a really well managed company, isn't it?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17780503
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Like all of these stories it is hard (due to the dreadful standards of modern journalism) to really know the facts and until results of any enquiry are published it is a bit early to start pointing fingers at Carnival.
It may be that some punter has mentioned to a utility bar steward who speaks limited English that she has seen a boat with people waving at them, the utility bar steward has smiled and nodded and said yes ma'am and that is what the press are reporting as the cargo having informed the crew.
I am fairly sure that the captain would not have sailed past a boat which he believed to be in peril, the report that I read was that neither the officer of the watch nor the captain had been informed, the officer of the watch would have only monitored the boat in terms of a potential collision and when he or she was satisfied that there was no risk of collision then they would not have been looking at it in terms of possibly being in peril.
The cruise companies are all aware of the publicity impact of ships carrying out rescues, both in terms of the cargo onboard at the time seeing the spectacle of "survivors" being brought onboard and in terms of press coverage, so it is highly unlikely that this will have been a conscious decision made by someone at Carnival.
Unfortunately regardless of the details of this event, both piracy and the unwillingness of countries to accept survivors who may be wishing to claim asylum does make carrying out rescues at sea a decision which now has to be risk assessed rather than an automatic reaction.
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Whatever happend to the sailor "brotherhood"? ::)
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Whatever happend to the sailor "brotherhood"? ::)
If there ever was such a thing then piracy, litigation, remote control management and cheap foreign crews happened to it.
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Clanky, as ever, your points are well made. I am the first under normal circumstances to distrust the media.
However, that far out in open water did the bridge crew/OoW not note that a TEN FOOT DINGHY was 600 miles off the coast and the crew waving for attention?
Out on the open water surely it isn't that hard to see- the bridge is over 100ft from the water and it was close enough to be seen by the self loading cargo out on deck!
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If the boat was not spotted from the bridge then it can only be down to poor lookout. In the present day too much reliance is placed on fancy electronic equipment and not enough on the best bit of kit. :o Two human eyes!!!!
Angus.
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or maybie the bridge crew saw the boat, but didn't know they were in trouble. they couldv'e been waving to the passengers for all they knew.
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If the boat was not spotted from the bridge then it can only be down to poor lookout. In the present day too much reliance is placed on fancy electronic equipment and not enough on the best bit of kit. :o Two human eyes!!!!
Angus.
That's what I mean- it wasn't in a storm or an environment that a small 10ft boat would be expected. From my bridge visits on various ships over the past decade or so, lookout seems to be one of those things they do because they must- rather than being a continual check for anything the equipment misses.
or maybie the bridge crew saw the boat, but didn't know they were in trouble. they couldv'e been waving to the passengers for all they knew.
There's a bit of a difference between people waving at each other and frantically waving as their lives are in jeopardy!