Pear Link
Contact me on:
  • Home
  • The Chain Locker Blog
  • Personal
  • Professional
  • Links & Enthusiasms
  • Contact Me

A COSTA CONCORDIA Wrap-up. . . For Now

2/4/2012

0 Comments

 
THE CHAIN LOCKER

Most of the initial flurry of reports is over with. Of course there's a very large shoe to drop whenever the final investigation is published - but that may be years from now. For the moment, here's a good wrap-up of news reports and revelations, gathered together on one site:


http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2011-2012/thewreckofthecostaconcordia/


Some of the video on that site may not play, depending on the country you're viewing from - licensing issues - but there's plenty of other material there, including a couple of things I hadn't seen yet.

One of the sadder - but I suppose predictable -  outcomes of this event has been that various groups have tried to make it a vehicle for their particular interest. There is fear in the maritime community, for instance, that this incident will be used to further criminalize seafarers. Criminalization of seafarers has been gaining steam worldwide - think of the Cosco Busan, among many other examples - and it's a complex legal issue. I won't attempt to weigh in on it here, as I really don't think I'm qualified to address it. 

But as a mariner, I note with concern the apparent slow erosion of the modern Master's autonomy - partly an artifact of today's tight, continuous communications with the office - and associate it with an erosion of respect for his authority, and a greater readiness to bring criminal charges against him. I read that Capt. Schettino of COSTA CONCORDIA had ten telephone conversations with his office during the hour+ between his striking the rock, and his calling abandon ship. I'm from the old school, but I think he might have acted sooner, and possibly saved some lives, had he been focused on dealing with the emergency instead of discussing it with his office. I don't know what all the calls were about, but if they took place they certainly constituted a distraction from his primary responsibility at that moment.

If you haven't seen it, have a look at COSTA CONCORDIA's AIS track (linked below in a previous post) - I know many companies track their vessels continuously now, even noting their speed and giving the Captain a call if they want it reduced. It's definitely a different world from the one in which I came up the ranks. And also a world in which, at least in some cases, an officer's sense of individual responsibility may be diluted by all the oversight. 


Maybe dealing with these challenges - for the mariner,and for his employer - is something we need to address in maritime education.

Weigh in, please - I want to hear your point of view! How does the COSTA CONCORDIA tragedy look from your vantage point?
0 Comments

    THE CHAIN LOCKER BLOG

    Author

    Reid is a career mariner who, after a lifetime afloat, still loves his profession. Thus this blog!

    THE CHAIN LOCKER blog welcomes your comments and photos - we have a big industry, so write & help us to understand your corner of it! All submissions are welcome.

    Archives

    August 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    1800s Anchor Found
    Abandoned Seafarers
    Adrian Vasquez
    Adrian Vs Princess
    Arctic Oil Exploration
    Asian Shipowners Forum
    Avocet
    Banquo's Ghost
    Big "U"
    Bravery 2013 Imo
    Capt. Schettino
    Capt. Schettino's Logic
    Capt. Schettino Update
    Chengtu Saves Yachtsmen
    China-Argentina Delivery
    Cma Cgm Marco Polo
    Costa Concordia
    Costa Concordia Ais
    Costa Concordia Black Box
    Costa Concordia Br Video
    Costa Concordia Discovery Channel
    Costa Concordia From Space
    Costa Concordia Salvage
    Costa Concordia Schettino U/D
    Costa Concordia Wrap-up
    Costa Concordia Wreck
    Daylight Saving Time
    Dheeraj Tirawi - Hero
    Disney Fantasy Rescues 4
    Distraction
    Ecdis Knowledge Deficient
    Ecdis Problems Noted: Iho
    Enrica Lexie Released
    Enrica Lexie Settlement
    Eof
    Eu Attacks Pirates Ashore
    Eu Navfor Attacks Ashore
    Fatigue Video
    Felix Luckner
    Filipino Seamen Bubble 2
    Filipino Seamen On Bubble
    Fire Fighting Robot
    First Post - An Invitation
    Fishermen Ignored
    Fishermen Shot
    Fit 1
    Fit 2
    Fit 3
    Freeman Rhuland
    Gearbulk Lays Off Crews
    Gert B Buttgenbach
    Hisham Almiraat
    Homemade Wind Turbines
    Horizon Fatigue Study
    Horizon Reliance 1
    Horizon Reliance 2
    Horizon Reliance 3
    Horizon Reliance 4
    How To Participate
    Hybrid Osv
    Iceberg-1
    Iceberg 1 Mag
    Iceberg 1 - Time To Act
    Iceberg 1 Website
    Iceberg I A. Burney
    Iceberg I Movie
    Iceberg I - Petition
    Icebreaker Aiviq
    Icebreaker Aiviq Video
    Keel Walk
    Kennebec Captain
    Large Bridge Teams
    Let's Connect!
    Lng
    Lngcoldfacts Blog
    LNG-Powered Tug
    Maersk Texas
    Mag Twitter Account
    Mariner's Fatigue
    Maritime Mentors
    Masters
    Missing Vdr Data
    Mlc Ratification
    Mv Eglantine
    Mv Iceberg 1 Mag Blog
    Mv Prabha Daya
    Mv Xianghuamen Freed
    Northern Sea Route
    Nuclear Icebreaker
    Ocean Waves
    Panama Canal Time-Lapse
    Patriotism
    Piracy Survivor Alex
    Piracy The Human Cost Video
    Piracy Water Cannon
    Pirate Attacks 2011-12
    Pirate Coast Video
    Pirates Battle Nato
    Pirates Ransom Their Own
    Pirates Up Ante
    Please Send Pictures
    Prohibiting Ransoms
    Rescue At Sea
    Rolls-Royce LNG Engine
    Rotortug
    Rotortug Redux
    Seagoing Automobiles
    Seeadler
    Shipwrecks
    Skandi Vega
    SOS - Save Our Seafarers
    Star Princess
    Starting Out
    Stcw Manning Math
    This Is Your Blog!
    Tugboat In Trouble
    Usns Rappahannock
    Uss Miami
    Viking Lady
    Watch Systems
    W. Laurence Allen
    Women At Sea
    Yekaterinburg
    Youth

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly