Princess Cruises said it deeply regrets that its ship the Star Princess passed by a fishing boat adrift in the Pacific Ocean and failing to rescue the dying men on board. The cruise line is blaming a “breakdown in communication,” claiming that the captain and the officer on watch were never contacted about the disabled fishing boat. Passengers on deck spotted the fishing boat in distress and relayed the information to a sales representative on the ship, who promised to pass the information onto the bridge. By the time the fishing boat was ultimately rescued several weeks later, two of the three fishermen aboard had died.
Old Salt Blog
a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea , hosted by nautical novelist Rick Spilman
If the passengers saw the boat, the bridge watch should have seen it as well. The master and officer on watch should lose their licenses.
BULLSHIP I am fed up with these stupid comments from persons with no knowledge whatsoever of a Bridge Watch. But when one writes a Blog this has to be expected one supposes.
Good Watch
As is always the case, the devil is in the details. I do not fault the bridge for not spotting the drifting boat. The passengers, who were birdwatchers, had high-powered binoculars mounted on tripods. It is not enough, however, for the captain and the officer of the watch to say that they did not see the boat, if they were notified that the boat was there. If they were never notified, then there is a serious flaw in the safety procedures aboard the ship.
The passengers claim that they notified a member of the ship’s staff, who observed the boat himself through binoculars, who then reported it to the bridge. If that was the case, then indeed there was a failure by the ship’s officers, which ultimately may have cost the lives of two men. If the bridge was never notified, then there was a serious breakdown in communication, which is just as troubling.
I am not blaming any person here. It was the fate of the two fishermen that they supposed to die. But, human action can sometimes help to defy fate. I was on the star princess myself in March. The Sail before this. If it were me that spotted the fishing boat and believed that the men were in trouble. I would have raise hell until I see the captain and ask him to explain why he is not going to help right there and then. I won’t wait.
Oops. It happened on March 10. I was on board the Star Princess myself. I did not hear anything about this incidence. That means this incidence was not elevated high enough to be considered urgent. I did not even hear anything from the dining room waiters or the buffet waiters or fellow passengers. How many people saw that fishing boat anyway. There are lots of people on the ship and why the 3 bird watches not tell other people too if they believe that to be a distress fishing boat. May be they do not want to alarm other pasengers? This is life and deadth. I don’t mind to be alarmed. None the less, If I knew about the incidence. I certainly would not stop at anything until I saw the captain myself and ask for his explanation of why no rescue operation. The captain was a very nice guy and I do not believe that he will not rescue the fishermen.
If we do a Postpartum now about the incidence, there is a big question to ask.
Did the birdwatchers really believe that the fishermen were in trouble and required help?
If the answer is Yes, then it was the birdwatchers inability to raise this situation to the attention of the captain. There was no fault on the birdwatcher part because they told somebody. But, they certainly cannot be called Heroes. It was their inability or indifference that indirectly caused the death of the 2 fishermen. They would go to the room and used internet to notify some people else while the help is right at hand if they stop at nothing until they got the captains attention and met with the captain face to face to discuss the situation. If they were real Heroes, they would stop at nothing until they got some response from the captain directly right there and then. Time is of the essence. Heroes go into burning houses to rescue people. Heroes stop at nothing until they got the results.
If the answer is No, then Case Closed and nobody is at fault, not even the captain, because people in smaller boats waived at big cruise ship all the time everywhere.