Points well taken. As far as faulting crews… yes and no. There is no doubt that professional mariners have a duty to report deficiencies and unsafe conditions. And I am sure many many at BTC tried. But … if the management is not receptive and even takes retaliatory action against those that report… it hard to blame them. It think between the B-255 public hearing, NTSB report and recent OSHA finding of whistle blower wrongful employment termination by BTC. There is plenty of at the very least antidotal evidence that suggests crews were not encouraged and even punished for reporting deficiencies and unsafe conditions.,
BTC has operated under an ISM SMS and DOC and SMCs issued by ABS for a long time. Not sure how they could pass IACS external audit standards if the reporting culture is as bad as indicated by they reports identified above.