Maersk Alabama C/M Sued

I’m just gonna leave this here…

  1. The man runs a realistic drill.
  2. What the hell is he doing with a machete on a coastwise ship?

[QUOTE=awulfclark;167141]
2) What the hell is he doing with a machete on a coastwise ship?[/QUOTE]

They took away his cutlass.

Why would such a glorious mariner work on such a shitbox ship in the first place?

[QUOTE=Fraqrat;167135]I’m just gonna leave this here…

Seems as charming and level headed as his former captain.
If he indeed did something that stupid, which is hard to believe, he is fortunate he is sailing now instead of 40 years ago when he likely would have had his machete and ass returned to him at first port.

I’d sue the prick if he did that to me.

[QUOTE=RichM;167213]I’d sue the prick if he did that to me.[/QUOTE]
Here’s a funny but true story. Years ago when all the irrational fear of piracy/terrorists was rampant and the training got silly a fellow I know was sent to a VSO course put on by some supposedly ex-military types. These instructors rushed on to the “bridge” with fake but realistic looking M-16s and stuck one in the face of a chief mate. This chief mate grabbed the gun out of the pirates hands and butt stroked the fool across the jaw. That is way more satisfying than a law suit.

Depending on who you work for the irrational fear of terrorism still exists.

[QUOTE=DeckApe;167236]Depending on who you work for the irrational fear of terrorism still exists.[/QUOTE]

Running from New Orleans to Tampa? I don’t think so. I’ve alway said, if there is a threat, hire security. I’d still sue the prick.

[QUOTE=RichM;167213]I’d sue the prick if he did that to me.[/QUOTE]

I would hope they’ll hang him by his BALLS!

[QUOTE=DeckApe;167236]Depending on who you work for the irrational fear of terrorism still exists.[/QUOTE]
Terror and the protection from the perceived danger has become an industry that feeds itself. A self licking ice cream cone. Companies have to protect themselves from loss from piracy just like they do from fire and sinking but irrational fear is something sold by the anti-terror industry; not true risk assessment.The risk of loss from piracy is not that great just more dramatic and newsworthy than fire or sinking. When’s the last time a ship fire or sinking not involving paying passengers made the headlines on CNN?

[QUOTE=tengineer1;167259]Terror and the protection from the perceived danger has become an industry that feeds itself. A self licking ice cream cone. Companies have to protect themselves from loss from piracy just like they do from fire and sinking but irrational fear is something sold by the anti-terror industry; not true risk assessment.The risk of loss from piracy is not that great just more dramatic and newsworthy than fire or sinking. When’s the last time a ship fire or sinking not involving paying passengers made the headlines on CNN?[/QUOTE]

I agree with your remarks in general with regards to the U.S. reaction to terrorism.

However with regards to piracy, while the risk of an attack overall may have been less then the risk of another emergency overall, when the ship was actually transiting piracy areas the risk of an attack was higher then was the risk of other emergencies.

I made several transits through the GOA during the height of the problem. On the nights where conditons for attacks were favorable attacks could be heard occuring on the VHF. The next morning the updated piracy report would reflect that a ship in our area had been taken. Not to mention the tales we heard from the pilots of ships arriving with bullet holes in the wheelhouse.

As far as the reacton, some mariners overreacted and some under-reacted. Some were very confident their ships could not be boarded becaused of speed and freeboard, some captains quit rather then make the run.

For my part I absorbed as much informaton available as I could and more or less followed the recomended procedures.

One thing I noticed was that attacks would take place outside the “box” where precautions were to be taken and the next update would have a bigger box. I would start precautions before crossing the official boundary and maintain them after leaving.

It was also true of the speed/freeboard rules. At first it was the “low and slow”. Only ships under a certain speed were being taken. Ships with high freeboards and high speed were considered safe. But, same as the box, when a ship with a speed over the previous safe transit speed was taken the rules would change. Over time the speed where ships were considered safe got higher and higher as the box got larger and larger.

Each time the pirates expanded the understood parameters of which ships were at risk of attack the so called experts were taken by surprise. This was true when the first VLCC was taken, the first PCC, and it was true when the first containership over 18 kts was taken.

what does any of this do with this clown trying to be Captain Badass? This Bozo risked injuring a crewmember of his with his little stunt and I wholeheartedly support the claims against him and his employer. I hope that the moron’s career is not OVER!

[QUOTE=c.captain;167273]what does any of this do with this clown trying to be Captain Badass? This Bozo risked injuring a crewmember of his with his little stunt and I wholeheartedly support the claims against him and his employer. I hope that the moron’s career is not OVER![/QUOTE]

The queston of if the response to piracy was an overreaction or not. My view is that in some cases there was an over reaction and in some cases there was an under-reaction. Presumably some had an response that was appropriate.

In this case it would appear that the captain may have taken things to far. It appears some posters hold some previous animosity toward the captain

EDIT: Another point is that the precautions to be taken against fire and sinking are well known and routine. Piracy on the other hand was a new threat for many mariners. The appropriate response was not known and some of the advice given was wrong.

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;167274]The queston of if the response to piracy was an overreaction or not. My view is that in some cases there was an over reaction and in some cases there was an under-reaction. Presumably some had an response that was appropriate.

In this case it would appear that the captain may have taken things to far. It appears some posters hold some previous animosity toward the captain

EDIT: Another point is that the precautions to be taken against fire and sinking are well known and routine. Piracy on the other hand was a new threat for many mariners. The appropriate response was not known and some of the advice given was wrong.[/QUOTE]

Agree. My comments were in particular response to the guy being on a largely domestic route performing this stunt drill. I still find it hard to believe.
Piracy in certain other waters is a real threat and has been since there have been ships. Sadly, some companies do not properly prepare or protect their ships and crews. I also believe navies of the world could do MUCH more to combat piracy. Naval forces were originally formed in many countries to combat piracy thus protecting commerce, they kinda got away from that mission.

[QUOTE=tengineer1;167278]Agree. My comments were in particular response to the guy being on a largely domestic route performing this stunt drill. I still find it hard to believe.
Piracy in certain other waters is a real threat and has been since there have been ships. Sadly, some companies do not properly prepare or protect their ships and crews. I also believe navies of the world could do MUCH more to combat piracy. Naval forces were originally formed in many countries to combat piracy thus protecting commerce, they kinda got away from that mission.[/QUOTE]

It’s a small world, you run into other mariners, It’s possible to get too personal.

This guy’s ship got hijacked by pirates. To be kind he may be intrested in techniques to improve how seriously the crew takes drills. He might be using the trial and error method, this looks like an error.

Not everyone is on a routine run, captains get in trouble. It’s easy to get twitchy. I try to stick to the script.

I heard a story of a long time captain on a coastwise tanker bringing a revolver to a life boat drill. He asked, “what is the most important thing to have when abandoning ship?” People answered, " a life jacket, hat, VHF radio." He said, “no, discipline and put the revolver on the mess table.”

Could this be a SIU seaman looking to get rich quick? If the Captain did do this he should be penalized, but till you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes you should not judge them.

Wonder if he has PTSD?

I believe that guy is trying a “get rich quick” move based on a stupid move by the Captain. What happen to Mariners been tough???
This story should had read… Captain Murphy was sent to the hospital due to injuries sustained when he tried to put a machete against a Mariners throat during a drill.