Company Quick To Blame Captain

By John Konrad On August 11, 2007

In a recent incident aboard the Russian Cruise/Research vessel Alexey Maryshev, passengers where injured when an iceberg, which the vessel was navigating close to, broke apart causing a large wave. What was the company’s response? Immediately Blame the captain. The Guardian tells us:

After hearing evidence from passengers the company said it was convinced that the captain was responsible for Wednesday’s accident, which saw chunks of ice from a glacier crashing onto the deck.

The company said: “We are at the moment considering what action to take next. However, the captain will not be permitted to be on board any future voyage carrying Discover the World passengers.

An investigation was under way yesterday after 18 people were injured, two of them seriously, when chunks of ice crashed from an Arctic glacier onto the deck of their luxury sightseeing liner.

Authorities in Svalbard, Norway, were interviewing passengers and the captain of the Alexey Maryshev yesterday afternoon to establish whether the ship was sailing too close to the Hornbreen glacier, which is 300 miles from the Norwegian mainland. Read More…

Watch the news VIDEO, read the reports ( BBC, The Guardian, BBC Wrap-Up) then comment on our question: Was the company to quick to blame Captain Zhelenin?

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About The Author

John Konrad

Captain John Konrad is co-founder of Unofficial Networks, Editor In Chief of this blog and author of the book Fire On The Horizon. He is a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage and, since graduating from SUNY Maritime College, has sailed a variety of ships from ports around the world. John currently lives in Morro Bay, California with his wife and two children.