Blame on the Captain

[luv2cruzuk]

Just to say what a shocking disaster this is. Many people have lost their lives and I’m only surprised, with over 4k people on board, more lives haven’t been lost.

I have to praise the actions of the crew, who managed to get over 4k people off in very difficult conditions. Despite all the negative reports about the crew, the fact is they saved many lives. With regards to reports of widespread chaos, I’m not surprised at all. I don’t think it would have been different on any other cruise line. They were abandoning a capsizing ship with over 4k people in darkness, so I would expect a certain amount of chaos. The Captain, I’m just amazed that he would leave the ship before others. I would also question the actions of the other officers.

 

The Captain is in command yes, however he’s not the only person with eyes/ears. He’s not the only one with responsibility. Where was the Staff Captain, the 1st/2nd/3rd officers, the Navigator? If there was any danger, why didn’t they act? I wonder if lessons have really been learned from the Titanic, Herald of Free Enterprise, Estonia. The launch design of the lifeboats is no good if the ship is capsizing. What about the watertight compartments? Improved from Titanic, but still not enough to stop the ship capsizing/sinking. The design of the lifeboats needs to be changed/automated, so that if the ship detects an incident of that level, the boats are automatically put into a ready position for launch & rafts should automatically be ejected from the ship etc

Imagine there are now passenger ships double the size of the Concordia, carrying over 8k people! Lifeboat design is the same as the Concordia. Imagine over 8k people rushing to abandon the ship - Chaos.

 

This is a terrible disaster and also a big wake up call to the cruise industry.

[Tonka's Skipper]

As the holder of an insurance brokers license and former employee of one of the largest international marine indemnity carriers in the world, I can say with certainty that while there are some differences, bottom line Costa and their parent company and insurance carriers are still on the hook for what could likely hit close to a billion dollars in various P&C and ABL claims.

 

 

 

You are totally correct, but so it the fact I pointed out that Costa is better off if they can say they knew nothing!

 

AKK

[Host Mick]

As the holder of an insurance brokers license and former employee of one of the largest international marine indemnity carriers in the world, I can say with certainty that while there are some differences, bottom line Costa and their parent company and insurance carriers are still on the hook for what could likely hit close to a billion dollars in various P&C and ABL claims.

 

If it was a crew member who caused the collision, Costa might have a bit of wiggle room. But because it was an officer, they are 100% on the hook. Officers of any company are held to a higher standard than employees and top level officers are considered to be entirely representative of the company itself. They act as an authorized agent which makes the company 100% responsible for their actions.

 

I'm interested in the fact that you compared a ship's officer with the officer of a company. Are ship's officers legally considered corporate officers on par with say a VP of marketing or the CFO?

[ducklite]

I'm interested in the fact that you compared a ship's officer with the officer of a company. Are ship's officers legally considered corporate officers on par with say a VP of marketing or the CFO?

 

Yes. They have the same level of authority and responsibility, including P&L responsibility. Junior officers might be along the lines of AVP's, senior officers would be a VP or director level, and the ships captain would be on the level of SVP/Chief Whatever.

[Keel Haul]

I'm interested in the fact that you compared a ship's officer with the officer of a company. Are ship's officers legally considered corporate officers on par with say a VP of marketing or the CFO?

This may interest you http://www.workplacelaw.net/content/14015