Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

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The Dieselduck
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by The Dieselduck »

Pheww, its a good thing we had that ONE bad apple to throw out of the barrel... otherwise we might have to examine the whole barrel - the system - a little closer. We can't have that now... that might make Carnival uncomfortable.
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by Big Pete »

As you say Martin, the SYSTEMS should be in place to ensure that one bad apple can't cause a disaster.
BUT the systems depend on the individuals being technically competent, and confident enough to speak out.
Management and the Regulatory authorities think that if they put the right system in place they don't have to worry about Technical knowledge and understanding, just put the cheapest bodies on board in the minimum numbers.
I am sailing on supply boat at present and we have an encyclopaedic ISM, largely full of Bull. One thing it requires is that every tank on the Ship should be internally inspected by the Ship's crew every year, (lots of tanks on a PSV), with a quick turn round, usually 8 hours in Port, while taking stores cargo fuel FW carrying out maintenance etc that is a tall order. When I queried it with my Super I was told that it was a "Class Requirement" which I am damn sure it isn't. When I pointed out that SOLAS forbade opening up Wing and Double Bottom tanks while the ship was under weigh I was told that it was O.K. so long as the Captain agreed. This from a company that prides itself on it's Professionalism and Safety Culture.
Chief Engineers and Captains are on a hiding to nothing. They also insist that we test every single Fire Detector head every month, again ( "Class Requirement") but we have a modern computerised system that self checks the cables heads and control Panel and will give a system fault alarm if one occurs. My understanding is that Class only require us to test the individual Heads annually.
When the Galley Dishwasher broke down I ordered spares urgently and noted that it was potentially a ship stop because of Port Health Requirements. I got a sarcastic reply from the Super saying that he could send the "Catering Mentor" on board to show our Cook how to wash up by Hand! The point is that UK Health Regs and M Notices say that all crockery and utensils should be machine washed because hand washing can not be carried out at a high enough temperature to kill Germs. I had to find the the relevant Regs and email them to him to get the parts.
Retirement looks so good....

BP
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JK
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by JK »

on the dishwasher thing, that happened in my outfit with about the same response from the Super. I was sitting with him after work having a beer when the topic came up, I told him the same thing about the regs. I asked if the toilets broke down would he issue buckets so the ship would sail.
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by JollyJack »

The last Brit flag company I sailed with (Fishers) had the same attitude to ISM. When I pointed out an obvious flaw to the Super, he told me "We don't go by that, it's only a guide."

I showed the same guy hull frames in the hold which were so wasted I could bend them with my fingers. (she was a bulker) He told me he'd spent 30,000 pounds on steel the previous dry-dock, he'd spend no more. That was my last ship with Fisher's.
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by Big Pete »

some ex Fishers guys at the top of our greasy pole too.
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by JK »

30k in pounds converts to what? 55-60k Cdn?
That's dick. I've spent that much on one cabin deck and associated exterior superstructure repairs never mind hull work!
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by Big Pete »

That is only Tax dollars, not real money!!!
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Re: Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

Post by JK »

Real enough when there's not enough to do the work
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