A better question is why was a decision making process that was so fragile and error prone being used? Traditionally we think of the person in charge, such as a captain as the person who makes decisions. But what the person in charge really does is much more than that, the person in charge decides …

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;196368]This is from the hearing Mr. Morrell, - his title is Vice President Marine Operations, commercial. He states that his primary focus is Vessel maintenance.[/QUOTE] Yes it was surprising to me to read of the actual organization structure. Operations seems to mean o…

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;196383]Seems like there is no formal requirement to submit the voyage plan. The PE and DPA claim that the reports are so they can inform concerned parties, the terminal etc. But if that’s the case and the Master truly operates autonomously all they need is the revised ETA. T…

The ops side is for the most part is routine and low cost. Engineering on the other hand has big costs, it takes a lot time and attention to keep high reliability while keeping the budget under control. Over time a small company would evolve to focus on the eng side, I would think that the big ops…

This may fit into the discussion on the leadership qualities of those involved in the El Faro accident, shoreside as well as shipside: http://splash247.com/poisoned-profits-toxic-leaders-kill-excellence/

Towing a log barge one time, with 100,000 bf, south along the B.C. coast. Log are bundled together in log truck size bundles but the bundles aren’t lashed down in any way. Capt Jerry, lots of experience on that run. We were approaching a leg open to the Pacific to the west. Before he went below a…

I’ve been going through the MBI first hearing transcripts and I think that the board believes, as I do, that a working anemometer would be useful to the watch officers aboard a ship approaching a tropical cyclone at night when the locaton of the center is not known. What the board wants to know is…

“Any man can make mistakes, only an idiot persists in his error” Marcus Tullius Cicero

Here the captain of the El Yunque gets asked who is his boss. Mr. Fawcett: Okay. So who’s your boss? The answer is a bit long - the gist of it is this: So who’s my boss is not a real clear easy thing for me to answer. I’m the Chief Mate’s boss. I can tell you that. And to a specific extent by…

Hearing 1 Day 3 The Captain of the El Yunque The board is trying to determine what tactics are used to avoid heavy weather. Mr. Kucharski: Before the El Faro sinking, what was the maximum wind speed you would subject the El Faro or the El Yunque to? WIT: The – there’s not a – I do not have a…

The thinking of the MBI can be inferred from the line of questioning. TOTE captains used wave heights for heavy weather avoidance - that’s ok of mid-latitude storms, not for tropical systems Captains had no direct line of reporting to anyone in the office No true operations dept. No operat…

El Faro - What was the Captain Thinking is the Wrong Question - #174 by Kennebec_Captain - Professional Mariner Forum

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