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[Tonka's Skipper]

22 rescued unharmed as wine tasting boat starts sinking during cruise of San Francisco Bay

 

By The Associated Press | Associated Press – Sat, Oct 13, 2012

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO - Officials say a wine tasting cruise boat carrying nearly two dozen people started sinking near Alcatraz island in San Francisco Bay, but everyone aboard was safely rescued.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Pamela Boehland says the 40-foot boat the Neptune hit an unknown object in the bay Friday night, leaving it with a 1-foot gash.

Boehland says the boat began taking on water and sinking, but a Coast Guard boat happened to be nearby, taking on board most of the Neptune's 22 passengers and crew and summoning another Coast Guard boat that picked up the rest.

The boats took the passengers to San Francisco's Pier 39. There were no reports of injuries.

The Neptune's website, which advertises it as a "floating wine tasting room," says it holds 42 passengers for wine tasting. It was still sinking as rescue boats left.

 

 

Where is the outrage? Where is the angst?

 

Well lets see,

 

1. The boat hit a unknown object...not a charted rock.

 

2. A distress call went out immediatiely and the people were rescued. The Captian didnt have a discussion with the home office while the vessel sank.

 

3. The Captian didnt abandon his passingers and vessel and wind up safe ashore to Alcatraze.

 

4. No one died or was hurt.

 

Yes that about covers it.

 

 

AKK

[balf]

Today's TImes has comments from his advisor Fredrik Van Wijnen. It gives an insight into the defence he will use when the case comes to trial. He claims that he was not in any way responsible, and blames one officer for steering too close to the shore after he had been told to remain half a mile off shore. He also blames two others for not carrying out his orders and claims that if they had he could have avoided the rocks when he took over.

 

The advisor also said that he does not feel guilty.

 

David.

[CostaSmurfette]

Audio from the black box, which was distributed on Monday by Italian consumer advocate group Codacons, reveals the moments of chaos on the bridge before the accident. Schettino can be heard bragging, “I love to do the fly-by near Giglio,” as he turned off the ship’s automatic steering to manually guide the cruiser. Moments later, he can be heard yelling “Hard to Port” at the helmsman when it became clear the ship was heading for disaster. The helmsman, who did not speak English or Italian fluently, responded, “Hard to Starboard?” in English. Schettino repeated the request to turn the ship to port, but the delay proved fatal. The judge in the preliminary hearing, Valeria Montesarchio, denied the request to subpoena the helmsman.

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/16/costa-concordia-s-captain-s-culpability-in-crash-and-deaths-weighed-by-judge.html

 

 

Now...if the above is to be read correctly, the helmsman was told go to port, he misunderstood that and asked if he should go to starboard....erm...language barriers aside, how in the heck can you get your port and starboard muddled up as a helmsman (someone who is trained to know the difference tween right and left)?

 

And why has there been a block on having the helmsman appear...if not to make this whole episode look like a witch hunt?

 

The recording apparently shows that the helmsman was given an order, he did not understand that order so the original order was given again...by which time it was too late...and yet that helmsman is not being called to give his side of it, nor to have his qualifications/experience known or questioned.

 

If that helmsman had no ability to understand Italian and had limited English...what exactly was he doing on that bridge in the position that he assumed as helmsman...he is clearly underqualified in his language skills, so what else within his training is sub-par and just how much imput did his actions have in the events of that night?

 

How long had he been a helmsman, how long had he worked for Costa Crociere, where did he get his qualifications...all questions that NEED answers really.

 

Schettino WAS at fault, but with a helmsman who did not speak Italian, had a very patchy knowledge of English and appeared not to know the difference tween port and starboard...it kind of makes one scratch one's head as to what else was/is missing in bridge crew training and selection IN GENERAL within the shipping industry as a whole

[cruiserfanfromct]

CS -

 

The confusion was AFTER the impact not before. This error would not have avoided the collision in any way.

 

GROSSETO, Italy: The captain of the Costa Concordia told his crew to turn the crippled ship one way while his second-in-command told them to steer it in the opposite direction, an audio recording has revealed.

In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the island of Giglio in January, Captain Francesco Schettino shouted ''Hard to port!'' while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: ''Hard to starboard!''



The audio, taken from the ship's black box data voice recorder, emerged at the start of a court hearing in Grosseto, Tuscany, where the investigation into the disaster is taking place.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/concordia-captain-confused-directions-20121016-27p1q.html#ixzz29TGkN4H4

[CostaSmurfette]

CS -

 

The confusion was AFTER the impact not before. This error would not have avoided the collision in any way.

 

GROSSETO, Italy: The captain of the Costa Concordia told his crew to turn the crippled ship one way while his second-in-command told them to steer it in the opposite direction, an audio recording has revealed.

In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the island of Giglio in January, Captain Francesco Schettino shouted ''Hard to port!'' while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: ''Hard to starboard!''



The audio, taken from the ship's black box data voice recorder, emerged at the start of a court hearing in Grosseto, Tuscany, where the investigation into the disaster is taking place.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/concordia-captain-confused-directions-20121016-27p1q.html#ixzz29TGkN4H4

 

OK...remove the timeline side of things for a second...

 

You have the Captain saying one thing, a First Officer saying the opposite...and in the middle you have a helmsman who does not understand Italian at all and has sketchy (at best) English.

 

I totally "get" the confusion in the heat of the moment....but it leaves the question as to who was right...Captain or First Officer in regard to which way would have had a better outcome, especially since both were effectively hobbled by a helmsman with language difficulties?

 

Three supposedly trained individuals shouting opposing commands to a helmsman who doesn't truly understand what is being asked of him....THAT is a recipe for disaster WITHOUT adding in a rock or two....that situation is more worrying than anything else, worrying in that how many other ships have bridge crew that do not understand what is being asked of them and most importantly where the senior officers seemingly cannot agree as to which direction would be the safest in the event of a problem arising...

 

The chain of command issue is certainly there, but what is coming across as a much stronger "problem" is that you have these two qualified people barking out opposing orders to a supposedly equally trained individual who doesn't understand either of the orders and is so confused by the whole situation that an inevitable delay ensues whilst he tries to work out what he is meant to be doing and in which direction....it is little wonder the bridge disolved into total chaos.

 

It truly was an accident waiting to happen...it was ridiculous to have a helmsman - which is a highly responsible job - who did not understand English properly and did not understand Italian at all when working on an Italian registered ship with Italian officers. Made worse by two Senior Officers barking opposing orders thus confusing the helmsman even more.

 

Keeping a cool head in an emergency is essential but so is having people who can understand the languages being spoken....Concordia was a complete breakdown of communication when it mattered the most.

[cruiserfanfromct]

CS,

 

Of course Schettino is going to try to save his own skin by blaming others. The fact remains that it happened AFTER and is immaterial. We don't know how well the helmsman,

Jacob Rusli Bin,

spoke English. It is safe to assume he knew the difference between Port and Starboard. It could very well be that he turned the right way after the correct order was given a second time. We do know from the experts' report that the ship is in the place it's in due to the wind and currents and not by any great manuvering on anyone's part after the collision. It is also apparent, judging from the intereviews Schettino has given, that Schettino's command of English leaves a lot to be desired.

[CostaSmurfette]

CS,

 

Of course Schettino is going to try to save his own skin by blaming others. The fact remains that it happened AFTER and is immaterial. We don't know how well the helmsman,

Jacob Rusli Bin,

spoke English. It is safe to assume he knew the difference between Port and Starboard. It could very well be that he turned the right way after the correct order was given a second time. We do know from the experts' report that the ship is in the place it's in due to the wind and currents and not by any great manuvering on anyone's part after the collision. It is also apparent, judging from the intereviews Schettino has given, that Schettino's command of English leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Schettino is Neopolitan (born in Naples), the Neopolitan accent is extremely strong compared to the Sicilian or Ligurian accents...so just as the different accents in the USA or UK can sometimes leave the listener wondering "huh..what he say?"...the same goes for the various Italian accents too.

 

One thing concerning the helmsman's response...

 

Ambrosio called out "Hard to starboard", Schettino called out "Hard to port"....the helmsman replied "Hard to starboard?"

 

That sounds like the helmsman was taking orders from the man on duty...ie Ambrosio...which were contradicted by Schettino, who we know was supposedly downstairs with pax leading upto the last few moments before it all went pearshaped.

 

The fact that the helmsman questioned "Hard to starboard?" from Ambrosio, then Schettino repeated "Hard to port" a second time...it IS little wonder that the helmsman did not go either way immediately...he dithered...being told two things from two different people combined with a lack of understanding of language/accent caused a few seconds or minutes delay from receiving the first hard to port, the opposing hard to starboard which he questioned only to be answered by hard to port again...

 

You place yourself into that situation...you are standing at the joystick...in one ear you have hard to port, at almost the same time you hear hard to starboard from the other end of the bridge wing...you question hard to starboard from the first officer cos now the captain is back on the bridge and even off duty, you always listen to the captain cos he is ultimately the boss, who then repeats the hard to port....on top of this you have bells, whistles and general chaos as systems are indicating problems all around you....

 

It was sensory overload....with the added hindrances of heavy Italian accents that ALWAYS get thicker and more animated when under stress and your inability to understand English too well....

 

What are you left with....a bridge with no command chain, in chaos and panic/confusion ensues.

[sidari]

With the conflicting orders being given (as per the black box recording) you have to wonder just who was actually in charge ? if as claimed it was Schettino why was Ambrosio giving out conflicting orders to the Helmsman who must have thought that the Left hand did not know what the Right hand was doing!

[cruiserfanfromct]

With the conflicting orders being given (as per the black box recording) you have to wonder just who was actually in charge ? if as claimed it was Schettino why was Ambrosio giving out conflicting orders to the Helmsman who must have thought that the Left hand did not know what the Right hand was doing!

When Schettino said "I take the conn" about six minutes before the collision, it is apparent that Schettino was in charge from that moment on. Why Schettino didn't go to the bridge earlier when he was called to do so is beyond belief. If he had been where he was supposed to have been and doing what he was paid to do, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Again, the conflicting orders happened AFTER the collision and would not have prevented the accident so it is a moot point.

[CostaSmurfette]

When Schettino said "I take the conn" about six minutes before the collision, it is apparent that Schettino was in charge from that moment on. Why Schettino didn't go to the bridge earlier when he was called to do so is beyond belief. If he had been where he was supposed to have been and doing what he was paid to do, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Again, the conflicting orders happened AFTER the collision and would not have prevented the accident so it is a moot point.

 

Actually no it isn't moot at all.

 

There was a delay in giving the evacuation orders.

 

Considering the significant confusion over which way the ship was going...port or starboard...along with the language/comprehension problems...comes confusion and a certain amount of disbelief at what had just happened.

 

You have two officers shouting directional orders, you have an overwhelmed helmsman and alot of alarms, warning lights and general "this cannot be happening" type disbelief circulating throughout everyone on the bridge...all of them up there trying to get heads around the situation, trying NOT to panic but being so completely paralysed (which stress invariably bring on in the majority of people).

 

It is VERY important to focus on what happened in the minutes AFTER the collision...the chain reaction from various, often contradictory commands, the "disbelief" issues, the spatial disorientation and so forth....it will have taken a fair few minutes to snap out of the brain fog, realise what was happening, collect thoughts together and then act in an appropriate manner as per training.

 

When in the simulator, there is no pressure...you know that it is a computer generated situation and that you are not in any real danger per se. So when the brain fails to react within a certain amount of time, you can turn off the simulator, have it reboot (and yourself regain your composure) and start again.

 

But when the ship is real, the emergency is real and all around you are shouting contradictory orders, the alarms are sounding etc it is all too easy to lapse into helplessness, inadequacy and everything you learnt flies right out the window cos your body refuses to obey to what you are telling it to do.

 

There is no rebooting and starting again til you get it right...

 

So this confusion as to which way to go and the already hobbling effect of poor English comprehension are compounded by the ensuing and increasing chaos going on around you is most definitely NOT moot.

 

It shows a chain of command breaking down, it shows that everyone on the bridge were completely impotent. They were, no pun intended, out of their depth. As has been said for many years by aircraft pilots who have survived a crash, no amount of simulator training will EVER prepare you for the real thing.

 

From the tapes from the black box aboard Concordia, no-one took command & control of the situation that night...they ALL fell apart in varying degrees of total impotency...many acted out of fear, others were paralysed and unsure what to do, where to go....no-one took overall command, had someone snapped out of the chaos, the evacuation orders would have been released sooner and maybe less people would have died...but we cannot know that for sure.

 

It was obvious that there was no-one in overall command...Schettino was out of it, total disbelief at what just happened...and the rest of his officers and crew that night on the bridge were in a similar state to him. The wording of the phone calls to base showed that Schettino was completely shot mentally...he was no longer in command of himself, let alone Concordia.

 

They all fell to pieces, the chain of command fell to pieces and without that vital chain of command, all is lost....and that is why no evacuation order was given for such a long time...they couldn't get their heads around their own actions or what had happened so expecting them to issue orders to everyone else on board within a reasonable time was out of the question.

 

The confusion on that bridge, yes even before the accident with a helmsman with poor language skills, compounded what was already going to be a chaotic situation far, far worse.

[cruiserfanfromct]

Actually no it isn't moot at all.

 

There was a delay in giving the evacuation orders.

 

Considering the significant confusion over which way the ship was going...port or starboard...along with the language/comprehension problems...comes confusion and a certain amount of disbelief at what had just happened.

 

You have two officers shouting directional orders, you have an overwhelmed helmsman and alot of alarms, warning lights and general "this cannot be happening" type disbelief circulating throughout everyone on the bridge...all of them up there trying to get heads around the situation, trying NOT to panic but being so completely paralysed (which stress invariably bring on in the majority of people).

 

It is VERY important to focus on what happened in the minutes AFTER the collision...the chain reaction from various, often contradictory commands, the "disbelief" issues, the spatial disorientation and so forth....it will have taken a fair few minutes to snap out of the brain fog, realise what was happening, collect thoughts together and then act in an appropriate manner as per training.

 

When in the simulator, there is no pressure...you know that it is a computer generated situation and that you are not in any real danger per se. So when the brain fails to react within a certain amount of time, you can turn off the simulator, have it reboot (and yourself regain your composure) and start again.

 

But when the ship is real, the emergency is real and all around you are shouting contradictory orders, the alarms are sounding etc it is all too easy to lapse into helplessness, inadequacy and everything you learnt flies right out the window cos your body refuses to obey to what you are telling it to do.

 

There is no rebooting and starting again til you get it right...

 

So this confusion as to which way to go and the already hobbling effect of poor English comprehension are compounded by the ensuing and increasing chaos going on around you is most definitely NOT moot.

 

It shows a chain of command breaking down, it shows that everyone on the bridge were completely impotent. They were, no pun intended, out of their depth. As has been said for many years by aircraft pilots who have survived a crash, no amount of simulator training will EVER prepare you for the real thing.

 

From the tapes from the black box aboard Concordia, no-one took command & control of the situation that night...they ALL fell apart in varying degrees of total impotency...many acted out of fear, others were paralysed and unsure what to do, where to go....no-one took overall command, had someone snapped out of the chaos, the evacuation orders would have been released sooner and maybe less people would have died...but we cannot know that for sure.

 

It was obvious that there was no-one in overall command...Schettino was out of it, total disbelief at what just happened...and the rest of his officers and crew that night on the bridge were in a similar state to him. The wording of the phone calls to base showed that Schettino was completely shot mentally...he was no longer in command of himself, let alone Concordia.

 

They all fell to pieces, the chain of command fell to pieces and without that vital chain of command, all is lost....and that is why no evacuation order was given for such a long time...they couldn't get their heads around their own actions or what had happened so expecting them to issue orders to everyone else on board within a reasonable time was out of the question.

 

The confusion on that bridge, yes even before the accident with a helmsman with poor language skills, compounded what was already going to be a chaotic situation far, far worse.

Again, it is moot in the sense that it would not have prevented the accident. Wow, you sound as though you were there that night -- sure you aren't writing a novel? Are you going to include the part when Schettino was notified at 6 nautical miles away from Giglio but failed to get his @ss up to the bridge at that time? Enough time to have prevented the collision course. Which brings us back to WHY he waited so long and only took control at 6 minutes before the collision. It was his duty to be on that bridge to protect his crew and passengers and not anywhere else on that ship socializing with the head waiter and a former Costa employee. Had he simply adhered to the proper procedures in the first place, the rest of what you describe does not follow and this whole thing would be MOOT.

[CostaSmurfette]

It gets even better...for some reason, the sonar was turned off too....no-one on the bridge would have known the depth of the water under their keel even if they wanted to know.

 

Who the heck had that essential equipment turned off has not been disclosed...yet.

[cruiserfanfromct]

Some lights didn't work either and radar equipment turned off or broken. The plot thickens.

 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/16/14480554-experts-costa-concordia-equipment-may-not-have-been-working-before-crash

[sidari]

CT .... Where does it say that the order from Schettino and then Ambrosio was after the collision ? cannot seem to see it anywhere.

 

"It gets even better...for some reason, the sonar was turned off too....no-one on the bridge would have known the depth of the water under their keel even if they wanted to know.

 

Who the heck had that essential equipment turned off has not been disclosed...yet"

 

Was there not a story some time back in the few weeks after it happened that said certain equipment was not working on Concordia that would be looked at when it returned to Savona? i remember the data recorder was in question as well.

Edited October 16, 2012 by sidari

[cruiserfanfromct]

CT .... Where does it say that the order from Schettino and then Ambrosio was after the collision ? cannot seem to see it anywhere.

It's in the video that I posted a while back and in several news sources:

In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio, Capt Francesco Schettino shouted “Hard to port!” while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: “Hard to starboard!”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9610319/Turn-left-Turn-right-Costa-Concordia-captains-confusion-as-ship-hit-rocks.html

[cruiserfanfromct]

Costa Concordia burglarized

 

According to this video report just released by NBC, jewelry, paintings and expensive items taken by burglars. Even the gift shop was ransacked. :eek:

 

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/49435354/#49435354

[cruiserfanfromct]

Marine expert in court today testified that Captain Schettino had plenty of time and space to avoid crashing the cruise ship into rocky outcrop.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9612967/Costa-Concordia-captain-had-ample-time-to-avoid-crashing.html

[sidari]

"In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio, Capt Francesco Schettino shouted “Hard to port!” while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: “Hard to starboard!”

 

 

CT ... Thanks for that, found this a bit odd as well!

 

After initially giving the order “hard to port”, moments later Capt Schettino changed his mind and called out: “Hard to starboard. Close the watertight doors in the engine room.”

 

yet it is claimed Ambrosio gave the order to Starboard!

 

So was that before or after hitting the rocks ... the report is somewhat unclear.

Edited October 16, 2012 by sidari

[Max49]

Again, it is moot in the sense that it would not have prevented the accident. Wow, you sound as though you were there that night -- sure you aren't writing a novel? Are you going to include the part when Schettino was notified at 6 nautical miles away from Giglio but failed to get his @ss up to the bridge at that time? Enough time to have prevented the collision course. Which brings us back to WHY he waited so long and only took control at 6 minutes before the collision. It was his duty to be on that bridge to protect his crew and passengers and not anywhere else on that ship socializing with the head waiter and a former Costa employee. Had he simply adhered to the proper procedures in the first place, the rest of what you describe does not follow and this whole thing would be MOOT.

 

This is why I get the impression that some people here are either trying to protect Schettino or have a general grudge against Costa.

Some say it was hectic on the bridge, of course it was, they just smashed into a rock. It was probably calm and maybe even festive before the crash. Some want to blame the helmsman because they say he could'nt understand English or Italian, but I have not read that any where else.

Even if true, IMO it just makes it worse for the captain to be doing a risky night time sail by with a helmsman who does'nt understand the language and since he was captain he knew or should have known the depth sounder and a few other lights weren't working, but this stuff would'nt stop this arrogant captain.

I feel certain that the protectionists will also have good reasons why their captain also abandoned the ship without helping a single passenger.

I read it here before and I agree, some people will try to befriend and protect some one even when they are on deathrow.

Like he said "Madonna, what have I done?", well , he screwed up big time, 32 people paid with their lives, he did a billion dollars worth of damage, and I certainly hope he ruined his chances to be any thing in the shipping industry except maybe a janitor in the engine room.

[cruiserfanfromct]

"In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio, Capt Francesco Schettino shouted “Hard to port!” while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: “Hard to starboard!”

 

 

CT ... Thanks for that, found this a bit odd as well!

 

After initially giving the order “hard to port”, moments later Capt Schettino changed his mind and called out: “Hard to starboard. Close the watertight doors in the engine room.”

 

yet it is claimed Ambrosio gave the order to Starboard!

 

So was that before or after hitting the rocks ... the report is somewhat unclear.

Here is the Codacons video that was played in court today -- the dialogue happens at exactly 3:56 (21:45:31) into the video -- the impact was at 3:33 (21:45:09) into the video, so it was definitely after impact.

 

http://video.gelocal.it/iltirreno/locale/costa-concordia-la-ricostruzione-video-del-codacons/3237/3360

[cruiserfanfromct]

This is why I get the impression that some people here are either trying to protect Schettino or have a general grudge against Costa.

Some say it was hectic on the bridge, of course it was, they just smashed into a rock. It was probably calm and maybe even festive before the crash. Some want to blame the helmsman because they say he could'nt understand English or Italian, but I have not read that any where else.

Even if true, IMO it just makes it worse for the captain to be doing a risky night time sail by with a helmsman who does'nt understand the language and since he was captain he knew or should have known the depth sounder and a few other lights weren't working, but this stuff would'nt stop this arrogant captain.

I feel certain that the protectionists will also have good reasons why their captain also abandoned the ship without helping a single passenger.

I read it here before and I agree, some people will try to befriend and protect some one even when they are on deathrow.

Like he said "Madonna, what have I done?", well , he screwed up big time, 32 people paid with their lives, he did a billion dollars worth of damage, and I certainly hope he ruined his chances to be any thing in the shipping industry except maybe a janitor in the engine room.

Yes, it does seem Schettino has a few supporters here. After 2 days of hearings, there is no doubt he caused the accident but Costa will probably share the blame for not acting fast enough in alerting the authorities and botching the evacuation process. The attorneys will certainly go after Carnival because that's where the money is.

[Max49]

"In the chaotic moments immediately after the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio, Capt Francesco Schettino shouted “Hard to port!” while his first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, shouted: “Hard to starboard!”

 

Since I am in the camp that Schettino was 90+ % responsible for this disaster, but since I have owned a few boats I found the aforementioned quote strange that Schettino may have been correct.

Since the impact was at the rear of the ship on the port side, if the order was immediate, " hard to port" would have brought the rear port side of the ship away from the rock or at least reduced pressure and inertia away from the rock. "Hard to Starboard" immediately would have drove the rear of the hull harder and deeper into the rock. However if every thing happened in the quoted order, "hard to port" would have been correct to get the hull away from the rock; but that would have also put the front of the ship heading towards land; so, a "hard to starboard" order would have also been the correct order then. Think about it.

[sidari]

"he screwed up big time, 32 people paid with their lives, he did a billion dollars worth of damage, and I certainly hope he ruined his chances to be any thing in the shipping industry except maybe a janitor in the engine room"

 

Unlike the Warship Captain who killed Innocent people by bringing down an airliner and was Rewarded for his actions!

 

Some people have Double Standards it would seem.

[Tonka's Skipper]

"he screwed up big time, 32 people paid with their lives, he did a billion dollars worth of damage, and I certainly hope he ruined his chances to be any thing in the shipping industry except maybe a janitor in the engine room"

 

Unlike the Warship Captain who killed Innocent people by bringing down an airliner and was Rewarded for his actions!

Some people have Double Standards it would seem.

 

Just for the record,the case in red as layed out here, was for the most part totally wrong and the articlas and info presented plain wrong.

 

To compare that to the Concordias is still farther wrong!

 

AKK

[Tonka's Skipper]

The reason the merchant ships use the terms *port*, *starboard* and the numbers in units of *5, 10, 20 hard over*, is becuase these are generally acepted international terms. Language does not become a problem.

 

All the person at the helm has to learn is *port *, Starboard*, *hard over* and *Midship* This is not hard to do.

 

Please note in the tape,the quartermaster was indeed answering with the above listed terms, proving that he knew the terms and this is not a issue.

 

The fact the Cheif Officer was giving the quartemaster commands, when the Master was clearly in command at that time, again demonstrates the poor training of the bridge staff. The Chief Officer had no right to shout commands over the Master.

 

 

 

AKK

Edited October 17, 2012 by Tonka's Skipper