What Really Killed Costa Concordia’s Passengers?

Captain Schettino has received a lot of criticism in the mainstream press and, possibly, even more from industry insiders including gCaptain for abandoning ship before the last passenger was safe. An important question is not being asked however… would his presence on the bridge have saved lives?

The answer is likely no.

Abandoning ship may have been unconscionable but it was certainly not a lethal decision. This post hopes to identify those mistakes made which directly resulted in loss of life, but also come to the defense of the Captain by identifying what actions did, in fact, save human lives.

Of note, the following comments are made with input from ship captains and maritime experts based on the evidence now available. But its not until the “black box” is analysed and the investigation complete that we can determine the true causes of this disaster. What you are about to read are the best guesses of ship experts.

The First Fatal Mistake

Accidents are a result of many small events which latch together to form an incident chain. Taken separately, each mistake is minor but when strung together, they lead to disaster. Remove one link, one minor mistake along the timeline, and the chain is destroyed… disaster is avoided. It is beyond the scope of this article to reach back and uncover each mistake that was made, mistakes that reach back well before the vessel was even designed. I only mention this because the first major failing may sound small to some, but it’s critically important to the safe operation of ship.

The first fatal mistake was likely in the training of the bridge crew. The job of the captain is to give orders and the crew must accept even foolish ones, but it’s the understanding and execution of these orders which is most important.

When Captain Schettino ordered a “flyby” of the local port, it was the mate on watch’s responsibility to lay the course line down on the chart, check for hazards and advise the captain of obvious dangers. Once underway, it’s the mate’s job to follow the planned route and monitor any identified hazards.

“Flyby’s” or “showboating” maneuvers are in-fact dangerous, but are preformed every single day by countless ships around the world. So why did this one run aground?

The most likely answer is the mate on watch got distracted and missed the turn. This is easy to do with today’s reliance on a myriad of electronic navigation devices and the distraction that comes from phone calls to the bridge, logbook entries and, yes, sometimes the call of Facebook updates streaming into a cell phone.

We do not know why the mate on watch missed the pre-assigned turn, maybe it wasn’t laid out on the chart in the first place or maybe the Captain ignored the course line, we don’t know, but the turn was missed.

A classic failure of bridge resource management and crew training.

The Second Fatal Mistake

Slow down!

We hear those words everyday, but in our cars and at work, may of us ignore them. Moving fast is ok most of the time, but not when you’re in trouble. Once the turn was missed the ship should have slowed down. This is not a simple task on a 114,147 ton moving object, it requires backing down on engines and can result in uncomfortable motions that would disturb the passengers.

But it’s essential.

Once the turn was made the ship should have slowed down. But it didn’t.

The Middle

Many mistakes were made during the next few minutes but none of them fatal. Cruise ships run into rocks and reefs on a semi-frequent basis (it happened just last week here in the US) and most people survive. Even aboard the Titanic, there was enough time to save most lives if enough lifeboats had been available. Mistakes happen. The captain could have sent out a distress signal, he could have loaded all the lifeboats and taken a number of other positive actions, but I believe those actions would not likely have saved many lives..

The most critical factor in disasters is time. Time slows down in the mind of those witnessing disaster, but the real clock, the one on the wall, keeps ticking. Only so much can be done and the captain himself can give nothing but orders.

The Third Fatal Mistake

One hour and twenty five minutes after the point when the Costa Concordia missed that first critical turn she ran aground on the beach of Giglio island and, in doing so, the third – and possibly most fatal – mistake was made.

A slowly sinking ship that’s relatively stable and close to shore is not intrinsically dangerous. Yes, you want to get the passengers off before she sinks but you still have time to preform the rescue. What is dangerous is a listing ship!

When a ship lists past 5 degrees she becomes exceedingly dangerous (check out this video). The smooth steel decks turn into slides that propel equipment and people down it at a high rate of speed. It’s common practice to beach a sinking ship for two reasons. First, it brings the ship closer to shore allowing people to swim to safety (which they in fact did in this case) and limits the time of those who jump overboard from being in the cold water. Second, grounding the ship prevents her from sinking which can allow you more time to rescue those stuck inside her damaged hull.

Some even praise Captain Schettino for running the Costa Concordia aground, but this decision was flawed.

When a ship is grounded to prevent her from sinking, the typical maneuver is to point her bow toward a sandy point on the charge and drive her ahead. This was not possible here because the ship had lost propulsion. Instead the ship was driven by thrusters (or current, the facts remain unclear) sideways toward the beach. When the keel hit bottom her 114,147 tons of steel continued to have momentum but, because she was moving sideways (all sway with very little surge or yaw), the momentum didn’t propel her further onto the beach, rather it seems to have caused her top-heavy build to “trip over itself”.

The ship’s stability was already reduced by the free communication of water into the ship at the area of damage. Grounding reduced the stability further. When the keel touched bottom the center of gravity moved from inside the ship down to the keel. Just watch a toy ship in the bath as you let out the water… once the toy ship’s keel touches the bottom of the tub the ship tilts over.

Why does a ship list to starboard when all her damage is on the port side? This could have been caused by emergency ballasting procedures (pumping water into the starboard side to compensate for the water entering to port) but the more likely answer is that by grounding her starboard-side-to the beach the ship’s momentum pulled her over to starboard.

This was the most critical mistake!

Listing Car Carrier Cougar Ace

In 2006 the massive car carrier Cougar Ace experienced ballast problems and listed heavily in a remote section of Alaska. The damage was extensive but all crew members were able to escape to safety. A fatality did happen, as Joshua Davis so eloquently discovered in his article about the disaster, but not for days after the incident. The death did not occur in the storm or escape from the ship, it happened in calm seas when a salvage expert accidentally skid down her heavily listed decks.

Heavy lists aboard ships are dangerous and, in this case, could likely have been avoided if, rather than beaching the ship, Captain Schettino had anchored her in close proximity to the shore.

In Schettino’s Defense

Be sure to read Part 2 of this editorial on the Costa Concordia disaster titled “In Defense of Captain Schettino“.

In fact, just today Cunard Lines has announced that it has appointed Captain Inger Klein Olsen as its first female captain in the companies history.  Captain Olsen assumed command of Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria on December 1st.

Captain Olsen’s first task at the helm of Queen Victoria was to take the ship, without passengers, to drydock in Hamburg for its planned refit. Next Wednesday, 15 December, she will be on the bridge as the ship sets sail with a full complement of guests.

Forty-three-year-old Captain Olsen was raised in the Faroe Islands, which accounts for her maritime abilities, and she joined Cunard in 1997 as First Officer on board Caronia. In 2001 she transferred to the Seabourn fleet, which at that time was part of Cunard. She sailed on Seabourn Sun and Seabourn Spirit before being promoted to the rank of Staff Captain on Seabourn Pride in 2003. Read full article

Olsen will helm Queen Victoria during the ship’s debut Americas voyage commencing on January 13.

For more information about women in maritime, read the following forum posts:

• Honesty On Jobs for the OTHER Gender
• Women Seafarers
• I am a women

Here at gCaptain.com, we are VERY happy to learn that Captain Alwin Landry has won the Lloyd’s List’s coveted Shipmaster of the Year Award 2010.  As some of you may know, we submitted Captain Landry as our nomination for the award after learning about his heroism and leadership on the night of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.  Captain Landry was master of the Tidewater vessel, Damon Bankston, which was tied up alongside the Deepwater Horizon when the rig exploded.  If it wasn’t for his quick thinking in directing SAR efforts, the incident could have been a lot worse.

Congratulations to Captain Alwin Landry!

And many thanks to the countless gCaptain members who petitioned Lloyds List to re-open the nomination process for Landry. This well deserved award would not have been possible without your help!

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CLICK HERE to download a Tidewater Report based on narratives by Captain Landry and the rest of the crew of the Damon Bankston.

Keep reading for the press release announcing Captain Landry’s acceptance, and the results of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards.

LONDON, September 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ –

The Best and Brightest in the Maritime Shipping Industry Were in Attendance to Witness the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards Honouring Excellence in Shipping and to Witness Captain Alwin Landry Pick Up Shipmaster of the Year Award for his Life-Saving Action During the Deepwater Horizon Tragedy

The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe resulted in a stream of footage of environmental damage and justified concerns about when the oil flow would be stopped. However, that day ended particularly tragically for 11 families who lost loved ones in the explosion. But for a heroic and quick-thinking sea captain, the death toll might have been far, far higher.

Last night, Captain Alwin Landry of the ship Damon Bankston was honoured by Lloyd’s List – the world’s flagship news, data and information analysis source for the global maritime industry – at its annual Lloyd’s List Awards ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel. More than 500 senior executives attended the gala dinner for a glittering celebration of the best and brightest talents in maritime shipping.

The Damon Bankston was alongside the rig at the time of the explosion and subsequent inferno. The quick thinking and direct orders of her Master brought the ship to a safe distance off the rig where he continued to assist rescue operations, including deploying his fast rescue boat back to the rig. The training and trust of his crew plus the efforts of other ships in the vicinity ensured that all the rig’s people, apart from those directly caught in the blast, were rescued and evacuated to safety.

“The purpose of the Shipmaster of the Year Award is to recognise and value the ultimate responsibility of the Master for the safety of the ship, her crew and her cargo as well as the safety of life at sea generally,” says Tom Leander, Editor of Lloyd’s List.

“The Master of the Damon Bankston is deserving of the respect and admiration of his fellow mariners for his professionalism, courage and leadership and in honouring Captain Landry we acknowledge the bravery and professional work of his crew,” continues Leander.

A total of 14 companies, organisations and individuals were presented with awards in categories which paid tribute to innovation, courage, corporate responsibility, business and seafaring skill and lifetime achievement.

“At Lloyd’s List, we wouldn’t have been here for 276 years unless we respected the best in the industry,” says Tom Leander, Editor of Lloyd’s List. “We take pride in rewarding this industry’s strong character. This strength of character – in companies and individuals throughout our industry – has helped us weather the economic crisis and will continue to serve maritime shipping well. We are delighted and proud to honour that quality.”

Other highlights of the evening were the presentation of the lifetime achievement award for Dr Martin Stopford of Clarkson Research Services; the award for Newsmaker of the Year which went to Eivind Kolding, Chief Executive, Maersk Line; and an award for Gregorio Oca, President of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines, who won the Seafarer of the Year Award which was introduced this year in honour of the Year of the Seafarer.

“The object of the Seafarer of the Year Award was to recognise an extraordinary individual that has, through the work of a lifetime, improved the lives of seafarers. In addition, we thought it appropriate that this person should be a seafarer, and one who has led an eventful life at sea,” says Leander. “Gregorio Oco certainly fits the bill.”

All 14 awards were chosen by an independent judging panel drawn from industry associations, academic institutions and private companies.

“We offer our most sincere thanks to all our entrants, sponsors and the attendees of last night’s event – and our hearty congratulations to each and every one of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Global Awards winners,” says Leander.

Source

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The Winners of the 2010 Lloyd’s List Awards

• Port Operator Award (sponsored by TT Club) – Port of Antwerp
• Classification Society Award – Lloyd’s Register
• The Innovation Award (sponsored by DP World) – Hook Marine
• Amver-Assisted Rescue at Sea Award (sponsored by Immarsat) – M/V Overseas Primar
• Safety at Sea Award (sponsored by GNMTC) – Maersk Tankers and Nadiro
• Corporate Social Responsibility Award (sponsored by APM Terminals) – Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY)
• Environmental Protection Award (sponsored by Rightship) – DP World, London Gateway
• The Training Award (sponsored by Admiralty/UKHO) – NYK
• Shipmaster of the Year Award – Captain Alwin Landry
• Ship of the Year Award (sponsored by Drydocks World) – Oasis of the Seas from STX Finland Oy
• Company of the Year Award – Sovcomflot
• Newsmaker of the Year Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s List) – Eivind Kolding, Chief Executive, Maersk Line
• Seafarer Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s Register) – Gregorio Oca, president of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines
• Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Lloyd’s List) – Dr Martin Stopford, Clarkson Research Services

[Source: Lloyd's List, Image via VesselTracker]

About The Nautical Institute and Lloyd’s List The Shipmaster of the Year Award 2010

Now in its 9th year, this prestigious award will be presented to a shipmaster nominated by colleagues on board or by the company ashore or by others within the maritime industry. Previous recipients of the Award are Captain Arne Rinnen of the MV Tampa, Captain Ahmed Zubair MNI of the Maldive Islands, Commodore Ron Warwick FNI of the RMS Queen Mary 2, Captain Ken Owen MNI lately of NOL/APL, Captain Jan Iversen of CMA CGM, Captain Youvraj Kapoor of B+H Equimar, Singapore, Captain Alistair McFadyen of P&O Ferries, and Captain Richard Phillips of Maersk Line. Each had displayed exemplary professional conduct, in the year in question and usually throughout their respective careers.

[Via: The Nautical Institute]

Rather today’s captain faces an onslaught of emails, sat calls and other forms of nuisance from managers who don’t understand the simple formula Distance / Max Speed = We Just Can’t Get There Any Faster! But while most of us can only dream of turning off the ECDIS to point the bow by stars, we can live vicariously through the sea stories of Max Hardberger, captain for hire.

From the cold war docks of Vladivostok to the cool breeze of Trinidad, Max steals ships from ports most wouldn’t volunteer to visit, then sails through storms and scalawags to deliver them back to a rightful owner. And with a spirit unique to American Mariners he implements Red Hand epoxy, Smith & Wessons, cheater pipes and whatever else it takes, to get the job done.

So while you stand in boredom on the Bridge or ECR, staring at computer screens and email messages that make you want to take the old man’s gun to your head… Instead pick up a copy of Seized and step into Max’s shoes. The book sometimes frustrates with a lack of the gritty detail aboard ship and, occasionally, too much detail ashore, but mostly it’s a fun story of true adventure.

You can visit Max’s official website at www.maxhardberger.com and purchase a copy of his latest book Seized – A Sea Captain’s Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World’s Most Troubled Waters – at Amazon.com.

Link to Podcast:

Weekly Leader Podcast 60 | Captain John Konrad, gCaptain.com on the Deepwater Horizon sinking

This week Peter invited his old maritime podcast partner, Captain John Konrad of gCaptain.com to talk about his life as a drill rig captain and the BP oil spill. Also, Wally Bock’s look at the best leadership on the independent business blogs and some podsafe music. sea-fever.org

When gCaptain interviewed Admiral Thad Allen, then CG Commandant, last year and asked about the increase in the criminalization of mariners, he was quick to lay down the facts that technology, not an increase of investigation, has assisted the USCG in finding mariners guilty of criminal acts. Fair enough but why are mariners being singled out? Businessweek tells us:

Rig Captain May Face Criminal Probe

Curt Kuchta, master of the Deepwater Horizon when it burned and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in April, has been designated a “party of interest” by a joint U.S. Coast Guard- Interior Department panel probing the catastrophe, said Kyle Schonekas, Kuchta’s lawyer.

Under federal rules, that means Kuchta could be charged if the investigative panel concludes crimes were committed, Schonekas said. Other parties of interest named by the panel include James Harrell, Transocean’s offshore installation manager on the rig, and Douglas Brown, the chief mechanic, according to the panel’s website.

“When you’re designated as a party of interest, it means you’re a target,” Schonekas said in an interview today in Kenner, Louisiana, where the panel is conducting public hearings. “The objectionable thing about this is that they named my client a party of interest after he had already testified.” Continue reading…

gCaptain protested Captain Nguyen’s heated exchanges with the lawyers defending the rights of Captain Kuchta and Jimmy Harrell which increased in intensity to the point of Nguyen threatening to remove the mariner’s legal representation if they continued to voice their objections! Objections grounded in the fact that the late appointment of these individuals as parties of interest has denied rights due to them in the marine safety manual. He even went as far as suggesting the board no longer considered them to be innocent after hearing their testemony.

In breaking news Steve Bertone, the vessel’s Chief Engineer, was listed today, just hours after his investigation, as being added to the party of interest list despite repeated testimony stating his heroic and selfless effort to start the standby generator.

gCaptain has confirmed with sources working inside of Transocean, sources who wish to remain nameless, that the lawyers representing Kuchta, Harrela, and Bertone are all local to New Orleans not due to convenience of there residence but because they are in fact being payed by Transocean. This may explain why Bertone refused to answer certain questions, under the advice of his attorney, even after Nguyen counseled him that failure to respond to certain questions could put into question his competency and ability to perform the duties of Chief Engineer.

gCaptain is deeply upset by Captain Nguyen’s targeting of mariners despite mounting evidence the blowout occurred due to poor decisions made by BP and Transocean management. And we will continue to object, until the licensed mariners in this case are removed from the list of parties of special interest designation or, in the least, shoreside managers & BP managers who made poor decisions and did nothing to directly save the lives of 115 crew-members are added to Nguyen ‘s List.

Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen as marine safety is the only topic the USCG board members have displayed competence in and the MMS (now called the BOEMRE) officials have shown no willingness to assign culpability to drilling managers. The fact remains that todays mariners are actively managed by office personnel and it’s the actions of these personnel that needs to be questioned, not those of the people aboard who may have made mistakes but also made the best of a terrible situation.

gCaptain stands behind the Deepwater Horizon mariners, do you? Post your answer in the comments section below.

-John

The above video is of the RivTow vessel Hercules, a self loading, self dumping log barge. Captain Don Rose tells us how the barge operates under normal operations:

On arrival at destination, a small tug will come alongside the Rivtow Capt. Bob and pick up the Mate and a Seaman and take them back to the barge. When the crew members are on the barge the small tug will put its towline on the barges stern to assist holding it in position while the pre-flooding and dumping proce- dures take place.

On the barge the crew will service the generating machinery and check that the cranes are locked in place. Confident that everything is secure the sea-chest will be opened along with a series of other valves to pre-flood ballast and tip- ping tanks with sea water. (Pre-flooding
and ballast transfer are done by gravity.)

With the pre-flooding completed, the barge in the right position on the com- mand of the Tug Master the timber dumping procedure will start. Because the RivTow Hercules discharges its load from the port side, ballast water is first transferred from the starboard side to the port side tipping tanks.

It is common that after all the ballast water is transferred to the port side of the barge, it has not dumped. With the ballast water transferred the sea-chest is opened to allow more water into the tipping tanks.

With the sea-chest open and water flowing into the tipping tanks the barge will continue to heal over. It is common for the barge to dump at 26 to 30 degrees of heal. Dumping time from arrival to departure usually takes from two to three hours.

When the barge dumps, it actually moves rapidly out from under the load. The load does not move until the barge has left it.

When the barge starts moving out from under the load it moves sideways to starboard at a rapidly increasing rate of speed for a considerable distance. At this time the small tug connected to the stern of the barge disconnects itself completely. The towing tug slips out its winch line so it will not be pulled over by the force of the barge moving sideways.

When the barge has settled down from its sideways run the Mate and Seaman close up the barge, leaving the sea-chest and tipping tank valves open to allow the forces of gravity to drain the water from it. The assist tug will then bring them back to the Rivtow Capt. Bob and another trip to load logs will begin. In about an hour she will level off.

For the complete story behind this interesting vessel visit Sidelights Magazine at the Council Of American Master Mariner’s website then download the April 2010 edition.

gCaptain called the Maersk Alabama at 1800 UTC and talked with the mate on watch. He answered “We are still in an emergency situation and can not talk at this moment.”

The Maersk Alabama’s Chief Mate is the son of the famous Mass Maritime professor Joe Murphy, author of the popular maritime license study guides know in the industry as “The Murphy Books“.

UPDATE an interview with Capt Joe has been posted HERE. Notes from the interview:

• She is an unarmed merchant ship on a commercial run.
• Out ran pirates for 3 to 5 hours
• Substantial gun fire involved.
• The vessel was also attacked on Monday.
• Maersk is handling the situation out of their emergency operations office in Norfolk Virginia.
• We will be updating this post as new information is available.
• Capt Murphy (father of the Chief Mate) is an expert in Maritime Security and teaches the class at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
• Level of violence and number of attacks are rapidly increasing.

The vessel is  crewed by Master Mates & Pilots and the Seafarers International Unions. The crew has undergone training at MITAGS which would explain their ability to retake the vessel. Our friends at The Maritime Executive talked with MITAGS which declined to comment saying that security training of the crew is administered at the Military Sealift Command’s training facilities.

UPDATE: Most of crew free, but Captain still held hostage:

The American crew of a hijacked U.S.-flagged ship retook control of the vessel from Somali pirates Wednesday but the captain was still being held hostage, according to Pentagon officials and a member of the crew.

The crew member told The Associated Press that the 20-member crew had managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiate their own release.

The man, who picked up the ship’s satellite phone but did not identify himself, told the AP in a brief conversation that the crew had retaken control of the ship and the pirates were in a lifeboat. But the man also said that they were holding the ship’s captain hostage.

This report (via Eaglespeak) of the Captain is unconfirmed by gCaptain but would explain our recent call with the vessel.

UPDATE: New Video from Captain Joe Murphy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2/m holds phone interview with CNN:

Ken Quinn told CNN in a live interview after the cable news network called the boat. “We had one of their hostages, we had a pirate. We took him for 12 hours. We tied him up. We returned him. But they didn’t return the captain,” Quinn said. The captain was on a lifeboat with the pirates, Quinn said. “Right now we are trying to offer them whatever we can, food. It’s not working too good,” Quinn said. He said the crew was communicating with the captain by radio.

We will be updating this post as new information is available.

Maersk Alabama – Vessel Information

• IMO number : 9164263
• Name of ship : MAERSK ALABAMA
• Call Sign : WDB9985
• Gross tonnage : 14120
• Type of ship : Container Ship
• Year of build : 1998
• Flag : U.S.A.
• Status of ship : In Service
• Last update : 2006-11-20
• Classification: American Bureau of Shipping
• Insurer: Standard P&I Club per Charles Taylor & Co

Vessel History:

• MAERSK ALABAMA Date Of Record: 2004-11-30 Flag: USA
• ALVA MAERSK Date Of Record: 2000-05-12 Flag: Denmark

Links:

• Maersk Alabama’s Link To The US Navy’s Maritime Security Program
• Maersk Alabama Crew in Tanzania
• Global Security – MAersk A-Class
• EagleSpeak on Piracy

That is all the news for today. We will be sure to call the vessel again, but only once we know the situation is stable. Stay tuned

M/V Athena

Photo By Regin Torkilson

The M/V Athena is owned by Classic International Cruises and operated by World Cruise Agency, both of Portugal. According to Equasis the vessel was built in 1948 and operates under the Italian flag. The company provides us with an overview of the vessel:

Athena was originally built as a trans-atlantic ocean liner and in 1994 the vessel changed ownership and was virtually stripped to her hull and re-constructed and restored as a beautiful new premium rated contemporary cruise ship. With a handsome profile and a traditional walk around promenade deck, Athena is a medium to small sized cruise ship by today’s standards carrying about 550 passengers and offering a wide selection of well appointed public lounges and comfortable cabin accommodation spanning eight passenger decks serviced by two lifts.

In a phone call to World Cruise Agency we have been told the number of pirate vessels was 24. We are awaiting a reply from the company on details of the attack and will post then here once available.

Convoy

In researching the Athena attack we learned from multiple sources that just yesterday a convoy of merchant ships under the direct protection of an Italian Penne Class Destroyer was attacked by 20 boats while transiting the Gulf Of Aden.

Naval Technology provides insight on the capabilities of this naval asset:

The Durand De La Penne Class destroyers were built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. The first-of-class ship, MM Luigi Durand De La Penne (D560), and the second, MM Francesco Mimbelli (D561), were commissioned in 1993. The ships were constructed at Fincantieri’s Riva Trigoso shipyard.

The Durand De La Penne destroyers are 5,000t multi-role warships able to perform anti-air defence for protecting task forces and convoys, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare operations, assistance during landing operations and coastal bombardment.

The ship is equipped with a helicopter deck and a hangar with facilities for two helicopters such as the Agusta Bell AB 212, the Sea King SH-3D or the EH-101. More Information…

gCaptain will be reporting on this breaking news as more information becomes available. Regardless of the upcoming details the coordination of pirate assets is deeply troubling. We consider this an elevation of the current threat and ask you to pass this new information to all mariners transiting the region.

gCaptain is also working towards a solution to the problem. We have coordinated efforts with an outfit that provides rescue services to mariners and travelers worldwide. The underlying problems in Somalia are:

1. Under-Manning Of Vessels
2. Lack Of Specific Training
3. Political Instability In The Region

While we have little ability to change the political situation in the country itself we believe new ideas are needed to harden potential targets and assure the safety of mariners transiting the region. Increasing the number of watchkeepers and providing on board training and advice is within our capabilities. If any companies or mariners are planning on transiting the region in the coming days/weeks please contact us directly, otherwise, stay tuned for breaking developments on this story and our plan to coordinate the maritime community’s efforts to protect our shipmates.

UPDATE:

Classic International Cruises Australia has changed their account of the M/V Athena attack. The Australian reports:

A spokeswoman for Classic International Cruises Australia, which owns the Athena, said the boats had turned out to be local fishing vessels whose crew were “very friendly”.

“Precautions were taken when the boats were sighted but there was never any suggestion that the boat was going to be attacked,” Classic Cruises sales and marketing manager Ann Hope said.

She said water cannons were dropped from the side of the ship as a standard measure, but were not used at any stage.

Ms Hope said the company had exchanged emails with the Department of Foreign Affairs and had sent a message to all its travel partners to inform them there was no piracy attempt.

“We would like to advise you that Athena has not in any way been under attack by pirates or even under direct threat and the current situation on board is as it was at the beginning of the cruise,” the email said.

This is in stark contrast to the phone conversation gCaptain had with Classic International Cruises just yesterday. Also of note, the company promised to send us a maritime advisory drafted after the attack. This email never arrived and the company representative has been unavailable for a follow-up conversation.

UPDATE 2:
gCaptain received the following report from a maritime security group working in the area. They write:

The on-again/off-again, it happened/it didn’t happen, attack on the Australian cruise ship ATHENA did, in fact, happen, and we should no longer doubt the extraordinarily large number of pirate skiffs involved, originally reported by eyewitnesses as about 30 to ATHENA’s port side and 12 to starboard.  When the press heard eyewitness accounts from passengers onboard, the cruise line acknowledged the attack initially, only to deny it 24 hours later, referring instead to passengers who were mistaken about the “very friendly” fishermen whose boats surrounded the ship (but nonetheless prompted the crew to deploy fire hoses).   Companies have their reasons for saying things, and the cruise line wishes its passengers aboard ATHENA a “memorable cruising experience.”  It is not the company’s fault that pirates tampered with the memories of her Gulf of Aden passage December 2nd.

The latest version of the corporate story has compelled Portuguese Captain Antonio Morais to explain to passengers that the “very friendly” fishermen his cruise line first described in version 2.0 were, version 3.0,  pirates on a recce/training mission.  Doubtless, Classic International Cruises should award the captain a medal for saving his ship and her souls (not to mention a judge’s spot on “Dancing With The Stars” for the deft corporate waltz he was compelled to perform).

Nevertheless, the facts remain:  after two and possibly three boarding attempts, pirates mounted a full-on effort to capture his ship. Fortunately, Portuguese mariners rock, and speed kills, sometimes thankfully:  Captain Morais and ATHENA outran their attackers.

And the number of boats makes sense.  Two to four boats (nominally as many as 24 combatants) capture tankers and freighters with crew of 20 or so.  Some 40 boats with 200 combatants, pirates figure, can take and hold a defenseless cruise ship with hundreds of passengers and crew.

Despite the cruise line’s denials, this attack was evaluated by our people, and others with a stake in the game, as totally authentic, and it involved the approximate number of boats initially reported by ATHENA passengers.  I also believe it figured solidly behind a German cruise line’s decision to pull passengers and much of the crew from the cruise ship COLUMBUS December 8th, fly them to Dubai and put them up in a five-star hotel to await that ship’s arrival, all at considerable expense.

I also believe SECSTATE  Rice and/or our people at the UN referred to ATHENA to build support for the U.S. initiative circulated at the UN to go ashore, if need be, to pursue pirates (full Security Council vote slated for December 16th).  If and when we go ashore in Somalia, it is very much game-off for pirates and a most serious game-on for President-elect Obama, our Navy, Marines and special forces, and the international forces fully committed in the region.  It also represents a unique challenge to General William E. Ward, U.S. Army, first Commander of U.S. Africa Command.

Perhaps it’s a sign, too, that pirates made a grave error by targeting a ship named after the Goddess of Wisdom.

A vessel found in 700 AD, several centuries before Vikings ruled Norway, an Oseberg ship from approximately 800 AD and the vessel knarr from around year 1000 AD all have one thing in common; their rounded bows were the inspiration for Ulstein’s latest design, the x-bow container ship.

This design is not new, launched last year the Bourbon Orca was the first vessel launched with Ulstein’s revolutionary bow design. Now the company is set to incorporate this design into a new class of short-sea shipping vessels. A company press release:

The ULSTEIN AX104 Bourbon Orca, the first vessel with the ULSTEIN X-BOW , was appointed Ship of the Year 2006, and served to demonstrate how the Ulstein Group is turning visions into reality while also creating ship history.
However, the benefits of the bow are not restricted to offshore vessels, explains managing director in Ulstein Design Rolf Inge Roth. “The principle features of the ULSTEIN X-BOW® are as relevant for a number of merchant vessel applications as they have proven to be for offshore applications.”

Advantages of ULSTEIN X-BOW® :
• Higher transit speed in adverse weather conditions
• Reduced fuel consumption in head seas and following seas
• Reduced fuel consumption in ballast condition due to improved lightweight distribution
• Negligible slamming reducing the risk of damage to the vessel
• Lower pitch and heave accelerations, and enhanced protection of cargo areas reducing the risk of loss or damage of cargo
• Increased payload capacity for certain applications and configurations
“Particularly small and medium sized vessels engaged in regional trades are set to capitalize on the benefits offered by the X-BOW®, and we are currently evaluating this feature for use on container feeder vessels, ro-ro vessels and certain general cargo vessels”

With news of Ulstein winning Norway’s Ship of the Year again in 2007 for design of the Normand Seven we have every expectation of seeing the 2008 awards dominated by the first x-bow container ship.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More Video:

• ULSTEIN X-BOW – Bourbon Monsoon to Tananger
• Orca in the “The perfect storm”
• Bourbo’s Official Orca Videos

(This post was originally published on June 20th 2007)