Re: Full video of ship hitting and destroying the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore

On 2024-03-30 15:37, Don Y wrote:

On 3/30/2024 6:45 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Wasn't there a cruise ship run up on the rocks a few years back?  Because
the captain wanted to give the passengers a "good view"?

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Yes, a passenger cruiser.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia
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On 13 January 2012 at 21:45, Costa Concordia struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio. This tore open a 50 m (160 ft) gash on the port side of her hull, which soon flooded parts of the engine room, cutting power from the engines and ship services. As water flooded in and the ship listed, she drifted back towards the island and grounded near shore, then rolled onto her starboard side, lying in an unsteady position on a rocky underwater ledge.
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The evacuation of Costa Concordia took over six hours, and of the 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 32 died. Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain at that time, was tried and found guilty of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and abandoning his ship. He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison in 2015.[3] The wreck was salvaged three years after the incident and then towed to the port of Genoa, where she was scrapped.[4]

 But, IIRC, this wasn't the first time he had done so.  Therefore, his employers
COULD have noticed that his actual track would put the vessel in danger and
reprimand him of it.

True.

 

I advocated for an alarm that I could sound to alert the skipper
that we were approaching the destination so he could either stop
the vessel or tell me to move on to the NEXT waypoint.  Given that,
on small commercial vessels, it would be highly likely for such an
autopilot to be (ab)used to free up an extra pair of arms (the mate
at the helm) to attend to the OTHER work on the ship (e.g., preparing
lobster pots, nets, etc.), it seemed highly likely that there would
be cases where the vessel was under-supervised.
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My boss dismissed this outright.  Any such alarm would add cost as well
as complicate the installation (because the alarm would have to be
sited somewhere that the skipper/crew would be GUARANTEED to hear)
both of which added to effective selling price.  He said, adding
an alarm would just cause the skipper to cut the wires to the
alarm (assuming it was ever installed).

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Sigh.
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Yeah, the Front Siena could be under such an autopilot system and the crew confidently waiting for the buzzer to warn to change to manual mode.

 Like self-driving cars.  This doesn't free you from the RESPONSIBILITY
for the safe operation of the vehicle.
 When SWMBO bought her most recent car, backup cameras and blind spot
warning indicators were pretty much standard across the market.
One salesperson bragged that she never bothered to look over her
shoulder when backing up or checking mirrors before changing lanes
(as if the technology was infallible).

I use the mirrors for backing up, but actually the rear camera has a better view, so I use it most of the time.
I have no automatics for changing lanes.

 

Similarly, giving me control of the throttle would complicate the
product (as above) AND still leave opportunities for abuse as a
vessel adrift (not under power) is also a navigational hazzard.
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<shrug>  Shit happens.  Hopefully not often enough to demand cause for
remedies.

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I think other method is for the autopilot to switch off and sound a buzzer on arrival.

 Then the vessel is "under power" and "rudderless".
 ANY autopilot has to be supervised.  So, how do you ensure supervision?
(Or, do you just let lawsuits deal with it all, after the fact?)

It is what airplanes do. On certain conditions, the autopilot disengages and sounds some type of alarm in the cockpit.
--
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.