Practically Classics Forum

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31430998

Not one word of remorse from him, just displeasure at having his dignity assaulted. Wow, just wow.

My neighbour is a retired merchant seaman (he was a senior engineer on oil tankers) and said at the time that there isn't such a thing as a captain on a merchant ship - you need a commission to be a captain (eg Royal Navy) and that cruise liners have at least two senior men in charge - one that looks after the guests and the one that runs the ship. He also said that, in his opinion, people looking for a scapegoat and I am beginning to suspect he was right!

At the time, the story said this "captain" was with the guests but I see they are now saying he was on the bridge - so which "captain" was he?

People always look for a scapegoat, but in this case it was most certainly villified. The other 'captain' you speak of is usually the entertainments director and while it is his job to look after the guests, he is only 'in charge' of the hospitality nature of the ship and the crew associated with that. He has NO bearing on the navigational crew, on the Costa Concordia Schettino WAS the captain in charge of the navigational crew and ultimately was in charge of the safe navigation and movement of the ship. Even Schettino himself said in his trial and I quote "On that ship I was above all but God"

The definition of Sea Captains in Wikipedia:

A sea captain (also called a captain or a master or a shipmaster) is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel.[1] The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag state policies. All persons on board, including officers and crew, other shipboard staff members, passengers, guests and pilots, are under the captain's authority and are his ultimate responsibility.

The fact is Schettino chose to deviate from the assigned route, he chose to turn off the depth sounders and alarms as he 'knew the waters well' and as a result caused the collision with the rocks. Anything after that was a consequence of his actions/commands, and his alone.

3xpendable wrote:caused the collision with the rocks

Into the rocks perhaps, but I think that the rôle of the rocks ( ) was a passive one or are you going to post a sensationalist link to a tabloid piece about a new and very disconcerting threat of geological warfare?

Very small rocks float according to Monty Python

3xpendable wrote:People always look for a scapegoat, but in this case it was most certainly villified. The other 'captain' you speak of is usually the entertainments director and while it is his job to look after the guests, he is only 'in charge' of the hospitality nature of the ship and the crew associated with that. He has NO bearing on the navigational crew, on the Costa Concordia Schettino WAS the captain in charge of the navigational crew and ultimately was in charge of the safe navigation and movement of the ship.

The same situation exists on an airliner - the aircraft commander usually bears the title "Captain" - and indeed the airline may choose to call him whatever they wish, although Captain is the preferred title. His deputy is the First Officer - another title borrowed from the maritime world. The cabin is managed by the Cabin Manager/Senior Cabin Crew Member or sometimes "Purser" to use his nautical title (which describes the crew member responsible for the general care of the passengers).

In this case, the Captain played fast and loose with the safety of the vessel and those on board and it sounds like he got what was coming to him.