When the going gets tough, human error trumps high technology
January 23, 2012 · 0 Comments
By: Dale M. King
The recent sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia – a shock in itself – has proven several things about seafaring ships – and about life in general.
For one thing, it shows that when the chips are down, high technology can easily be trumped by human error.
It also shows that no matter how hard you try to prepare for the worst, it’s pretty hard to stay calm and follow directions when your life is really at stake.
It also proves that growing older does not mean you’re becoming more mature.
My wife and I love cruise ships. Our trips together have only taken us to the Caribbean, but she had already sailed to other places with her family and before we met. So she was already an experienced cruise ship passenger when we first sailed together some 20 years ago.
And by the way, we have sailed on Costa – not the Concordia but one of its sister ships.
Each voyage on any cruise ship begins with a lifeboat drill. When we first began cruising, we noticed that this drill was taken very seriously by the crew. We would have to respond to a danger signal (a series of blasts of the ship’s whistle). We would actually have to put on our lifejackets and go to our muster station to be counted with all others assigned to that deck.
While a lifeboat drill is not the happiest way to begin a cruise, it does show concern for our safety.
Over the years, the lifeboat drill has become something of a joke. During the last cruise we took – just a year ago – the lifeboat drill essentially required us to go from our cabin to one of the bars. We didn’t even have to check for a life jacket, let alone put it on – and it is an intricate piece of equipment to fasten– particularly if the ship is in trouble.
I have often told my wife that no matter how organized the lifeboat drill seems to be, in case of a real emergency, the crew would toss out the playbook and run for their lives, leaving us poor passengers fending for ourselves.
This appears to have happened aboard the Concordia. The captain set the tone by purposely going off course, bypassing the computer-set course and shutting down the off-course alarms. When he struck something underwater, he decided to forget the old adage about “the captain going down with the ship” and hightailed it for safety.
This event will be a sad chapter in maritime history. First, it was so unnecessary. Second, the crew acted with such disdain toward the passengers.
A number of people died in this shipwreck – so tragically and without need. In a moment, a blissful sail on the ocean turned into a disaster.
Many have compared this tragedy to the Titanic. But in the case of the Titanic, there were heroics. People gave away their lifejackets so others could live. Many chose not to get into lifeboats so women and children would have room. The ship’s band played, “Nearer my God to Thee” as the ship went down.
The Titanic has been a legend for 100 years, spawning books, movies and documentaries. But this time, there will be no stories of heroism – except for the man who gave his life jacket to his wife, saving her. There will be no movies showing brave people risking life and limb to escape from an overturned super liner.
No, the legacy of the Costa Concordia will be one of gross neglect of duty; a perfect storm of inappropriate behavior and an attitude of “save my own posterior first” on the part of the crew.
