North Sea Collision

[Woody]

Could this affect USAF capabilities?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cgq1pwjlqq2t

[llondel]

Could this affect USAF capabilities?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cgq1pwjlqq2t

That may depend on whether they have North Sea fish on the canteen menu.

[tango15]

Probably not - no doubt another vessel will be filled up and sent to RTM in short order.

Without pre-judging the outcome, one of my former bosses was an ex RN heli pilot, and also a leisure yachtsman. He was telling me once that it's not at all unusual these days for there to be no-one on the bridge when the ship is at sea. This, he said, was particularly dangerous for leisure yachtsmen. because if a large vessel hits your boat, you and the boat are goners and the large vessel is none the wiser. Calling on Channel 16 doesn't help, because no one's listening.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I had an AIS receiver linked to my laptop GPS mapping when I did my solo transatlantic,
You avoiding them is the only safe option.
Even if they are on the bridge, they aren't looking out, and probably don't even know how to turn the radar on, nevermind interpret it.
And if they are listening on 16, they can't speak English, and you probably don't speak Urdu or Tagalog.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

[tango15]

I had an AIS receiver linked to my laptop when I did my solo transatlantic,
You avoiding them is the only safe option.
Even if they are on the bridge, they aren't looking out, and probably don't even know how to turn the radar on, nevermind interpret it.
And if they are listening on 16, they can't speak English, and you probably don't speak Urdu or Tagalog.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

So very true. It makes you wonder why there aren't more accidents.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

GPS and live weather routing makes collisions a lot less likely than they used to be with general traffic routing.
Add to this a significant reduction in the number of ships due to higher average capacity, and chuck in that most fishermen and yachties know to avoid commercial traffic because they aren't looking.
This all means it's cheaper for companies to hire any idiot to crew the ships, and pay the insurance.
If indeed they pay the insurance - flags of convenience allow the owners to simply declare a company bankrupt and walk away.
Often the ship isn't owned by the liable operator, but leased from a shell company in a different jurisdiction.
And of course the owner can often just leave the crew on the hook. Who will be from a third jurisdiction.
Same principle with car manufacturers not issuing recalls if the cost of paying off the families of the fault victims is cheaper than the recall cost.
Never confuse the law with justice.

[Karearea]

I had an AIS receiver linked to my laptop GPS mapping when I did my solo transatlantic,
You avoiding them is the only safe option.
Even if they are on the bridge, they aren't looking out, and probably don't even know how to turn the radar on, nevermind interpret it.
And if they are listening on 16, they can't speak English, and you probably don't speak Urdu or Tagalog.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

[bbm]

TERRA-MARINE Agencies (Pvt) Ltd. is part of the TERRA-MARINE group and is one of the leading licensed and MLC-2006 attested seafarers’ recruitment and placement service providers and managers in Pakistan, operating since 1984, managed by a group of the sea-going Masters and Chief Engineers with extensive shore ship management and superintendence experience. ...
All courses and educational training for seafarers is conducted in English. All officers pass their high schooling in English and are fluent in the language. The ratings by and large are proficient in English. Ratings are subject to the Intensive English Language Program (IELP 5) course and test, and the English Marine Vocabulary course. ...

https://www.terra-marine.com/CrewingAgency.php

...The Filipino market’s supply of seafarers and cadets plays an integral role in the global merchant fleet, proving to be an invaluable asset to the maritime industry. Their English proficiency, quality education and training, cultural affinity for seafaring, and cost-competitiveness make them highly sought-after personnel for international shipping companies. ...

Safety4Sea: The Filipino market supply of seafarers and cadets and their contribution to the global merchant fleet

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

We have Filipinos here, and I like them very much.
I'm sure there are some highly competent Pakistanis.
However, you will note the 'one of', not 'all of', and I speak from experience at sea, not prejudice.

And if you are wondering how someone "internationally qualified" in English can't speak a word of it, the endemic cheating and corruption in education is the reason.

https://www.nation.com.pk/01-Apr-2023/e ... corruption
..and yes, I have personal experience of this too, both teaching in Asia and the West.

[1DC]

The culprit was a German owned feeder container ship trading mainly in the North Sea I suspect the crew were probably Eastern European. The crew of the tanker were American, be interesting to read the result of the enquiry.I doubt if either ship was keeping an efficient watch. The Master of the container ship has been arrested by the British police for some form of Manslaughter due to the loss of one crew member.The tanker remains at anchor and the fire is out and no longer leaking. The container ship has small random fires and is drifting under the control of tugs.

[Boac]

It could, of course, be a complete co-incidence, and that nice friend of the Chump wouldn't do anything nasty, would he..........? https://news.sky.com/story/captain-of-s ... s-13326888

[1DC]

The German owner has said the crew are Russians and Phillipinos, the arrested Captain is a Russian. If Russians are involved may be worth checking the bond locker and see how much vodka they are buying.
The way the ship came down on a non deviating course if anybody was on the bridge they may well have been asleep! Ernst Russ the owner is responsible he had a large German oil spill response vessel in the area from Hamburg with in twelve hours and a German oil spill response aircraft capable of detecting minor oil spills flying around supporting the British the day it happened. Often in these cases you need a master detective to try and identify the ship owner, fortunately this time we had two responsible owners. He might be reconsidering his crew selection depending on the enquiry..
I believe a Russian Captain lost his ticket and spent jail time for being drunk and incapable on the Humber last year..

[Boac]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 15488.html