How the Italian Costa Concordia disaster affects all vessel masters

It didn’t take long for the owner of the Costa Concordia cruise ship to blame “human error” for the capsizing that has killed at least six persons, reports the New York Times.

By human error, the company implicates the captain, charging him with making an “unapproved, unauthorized maneuver” to divert from its approved trackline.

At least 15 persons are still missing from the ship which ran up on the rocks off the Italian coast on Friday.

Though the disaster happened to a cruise liner, the event serves notice to all vessel masters—whether on tankers, freighters, ferries, tugs—that they will quickly have the finger of blame pointed at them, even before an investigation gets underway.

It is true that “the buck stops here” with the captain as the sovereign authority. But the culpability that comes with the position of responsibility is not always the same as criminal negligence.

If the captain did in fact operate the Costa Concordia too close to shore then he may end up being found guilty of the charges of manslaughter, failure to offer assistance and abandonment of ship. Presently he is only being detained for questioning.

There are lessons to be learned not just for vessel masters, but for navigation officers and lookouts, too. If, in the judgment of the mate on watch, the captain has issued instructions that will put the vessel on a risky trackline, the mate has a duty to express those objections to the master. If the master proceeds anyway, the mate may have to consider asking the captain to take the conn. At this point the atmosphere in the wheel house could become tense when the line may blur between reason and insubordination.

Same as for the lookout. If he or she believes that their reports are being disregarded, then there is a duty to make sure that their voice is heard.

A crewmember has the right to express such concerns to another supervisor.