Why Ships Sink

Maritime News Marine Incidents
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Nobody could have missed the news that Capt. Schettino has finally been sentenced and sent to jail for 16 year, (out in less than 5 with good behaviour)

Nor could you have missed that a VLOC just broke up and sunk in the South Atlantic, very much reminiscent to the Berge Istra, Berge Vanga and Derbyshire incidents in the 1970’s.

How can this happen in our day and age, with safety rules and routines up the ying yang, much better equipment and presumably better vessels?

The reason may be that the people who man them and run them from shore hasn’t improved quite with it. Rules, regulations and routines only work if the are applied and adhered to by all and sundry involved, which they are not always: http://splash247.com/unsafe-draft-part-one/

Another fairly recent accident, involving an overaged vessels getting into the eye of a hurricane, capsizing and sinking with all hands, alo come to mind.

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They fill up with water.

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They weren’t built in Norway to Norwegian standards.

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Or the Lawyerly term; The vessel took an attitude of negative buoyancy"??

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That could be the case, Norwegian built ships don’t sink or capsize easily, nor do they go on trading into ripe old age. They get sold and join the RRF for a pleasant retirement.

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Nobody could have missed the news that Capt. Schettino has finally been sentenced and sent to jail for 16 year, (out in less than 5 with good behaviour)
How can this happen in our day and age, with safety rules and routines up the ying yang, much better equipment and presumably better vessels?

To state the obvious. Until the rule makers hold those at the top of the company responsible, take their personal as well as corporate money and jail them there is no reason to change as there is no true accountability.

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