[QUOTE=āHeiwa;95151ā]
Can you blame the Master for the leaking/open/incorrectly fitted W/T door? IMO no. [/QUOTE]
Why must you continue to confuse RINA with Shittino? These are TWO distinctly separate events. If you MUST rail about the W/T Doors being installed, fine. However, during āThe Ordinary Practice of Seamenā it becomes obvious to an experienced observer (this one ((and apparently the majority of others on this forum)) that Shittino was NOT āpracticingā this craft. As with any ultra modern vessel fitted with such doors there is an indicator on the Bridge. It has indicator lights showing W/T Door status. In MY opinion (class society or not) sailing with these doors open is tantamount to āletting a kid run with scissorsā.
The responsibility falls on the ship owner fitting the the door in the first place.
OBVIOUSLY, concerning the installation. What about the conditions of use? Is the office responsible to come aboard and āmake sureā the W/T Doors are being used correctly?
You also wonder how the Italian maritime authorities could have permitted it being fitted. Do they not know about SOLAS?
Easy: The caveat that it NOT be open underway! You say you have so much experience with other incidentsā¦ Use your contacts to get either a sample āapprovalā or āoperational conditionsā statement applicable to this class vessels. If you can find it in writing from RINA that these doors are authorized to be open UNDERWAY then you would be correct in your desire to absolve Shittino. But. I bet that wonāt be found!
The easy solution is evidently to blame all on the Master but it does not produce better safety at sea.
It certainly does when a Master ignores what should be common sense: Keeping your Ship, Crew, Passengers safe! If Shittino gets off in ANY way on this it sends the wrong message to all vessel Officers. It would reinforce that: You can violate āGood Seamanshipā practices, You can Ignore SOLAS, And you can run your vessel aground, and watch it capsize from the safety of shore!
It just produces more irresponsible ship owners and maritime administrations.
I will argue: More Shitty Crew (That violate laws, simply ādo what is easiestā and do an absolutely UN professional job) are what āmakesā bad owners and administrations.
The solution is: Professional Crew who DO operate the vessels correctly and STAND up to the owners when asked to operate said vessels in a lax manner.
Did the Herald of Free Enterprise sink because of poor door design or crew negligence? Did the Titanic sink because of poor design or crew negligence? Get rid of poor crew performance and what happens? Who is responsible for overseeing the crew?
I realize there are some crappy vessels out there. As a person in charge, I realize that must influence HOW and when I take extra precautions with my vessel. It would appear Shittinos major concern that night was a certain Romanian PIATC who was his priority.
Also, no one has ever mentioned it before, But often on cruise ships there are TWO Captains. Shittino was the Master. The other one (Usually a licensed Master also) is called the āStaff Captainā. I would not be surprised if orders were given by the Staff Captain which over rode Operational Regulations. From past experience this happens when a Master gets ābrowbeatenā by the Hotel Management and doesnāt stand his ground.
