sbu22
Guru
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 1,253
- Location
- US
- Vessel Name
- Panache
- Vessel Make
- Viking 43 Double Cabin '76
I know there are a number of professional mariners and Coast Guardsmen on TF. I've been reading about the El Faro incident. It leaves me with 2 major questions:
1) The obvious question as to why she sailed, as near as I can tell from the info I can find, directly into the forecast path of an intensifying storm? I get that time is money and there was, I suppose, substantial management pressure to stay on schedule. I assume that a merchant captain has ultimate authority to take action to avoid hazarding his ship. And. it doesn't sound like he was a new guy. Was his decision as foolhardy (with the benefit of blinding 20/20 hindsight) as it seems to me, or was it a reasoned and calculated risk that went sour?
2) Living in NOLA, there is a ton of merchant traffic in and out of the port. I find it fascinating the number of events that occur wherein a vessel "loses all power" and has the resultant collision/allision. The narrative goes: "We lost propulsion. Then the ship went dark and we lost steering. Then we tried to drop the anchor, but it wouldn't set. Then we hit (fill in the blank)."
Having scant knowledge about how merchant vessels are operated and equipped, I'd be interested to hear the informed view on El Faro.
1) The obvious question as to why she sailed, as near as I can tell from the info I can find, directly into the forecast path of an intensifying storm? I get that time is money and there was, I suppose, substantial management pressure to stay on schedule. I assume that a merchant captain has ultimate authority to take action to avoid hazarding his ship. And. it doesn't sound like he was a new guy. Was his decision as foolhardy (with the benefit of blinding 20/20 hindsight) as it seems to me, or was it a reasoned and calculated risk that went sour?
2) Living in NOLA, there is a ton of merchant traffic in and out of the port. I find it fascinating the number of events that occur wherein a vessel "loses all power" and has the resultant collision/allision. The narrative goes: "We lost propulsion. Then the ship went dark and we lost steering. Then we tried to drop the anchor, but it wouldn't set. Then we hit (fill in the blank)."
Having scant knowledge about how merchant vessels are operated and equipped, I'd be interested to hear the informed view on El Faro.