You Can't Get Anything at Alice's Restaurant
6 hours ago
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Another Navy Ship Collision
We have another Navy ship collision. This time it's U.S.S. John McCain colliding with a commercial tanker. Something is definitely wrong. The international rules of the sea are very clear. Even in busy shipping lanes, these accidents should not happen. A whole series of bad decisions had to have been made.
This is in peace time with fully functional ships. We have the best navigational aids that have ever existed. That leaves human error. Training is probably part of the problem. Computer simulators aren't the same as being out on the water. I wonder if maybe people have become so reliant on electronics that a proper watch with human eyeballs aren't happening? That's just a guess.
Here's something to think about. The navy vessel collided with another large ship. I wonder how many small boats are just run over? Small boats are lost at sea without a trace all the time. The navy ship would hardly feel the bump.
The recent US Navy accidents have been with large commercial ships. Now imagine if they collision had been with a Chinese Navy ship in contested waters? That could cause serious diplomatic issues. Basic seamanship is important. I hope the Navy gets to the bottom of its issues soon. One can't but help wonder what other training they are falling down on.
-Sixbears
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I think the last one was on purpose by the commercial operator (a muslim, I think), I haven't heard enough about this one. Either way, whoever was at the helm of the US ship was negligent.
ReplyDeleteHad not heard that theory, but at the very minimum, someone on the Navy ship wasn't doing their job.
DeleteI'd read this morning that one theory as to how this could have happened was that ship's navigation computer was hacked. I dunno - maybe. Or just an excuse. But it does seem pretty coincidental that having TWO naval vessels in such a short time having incidents like this are very strange. Not like this goes on all the time.
ReplyDeleteOur prayers and thoughts to the families who lost loved ones.
There are redundancies to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Even if the GPS was down, they should still be able to navigate.
DeleteSounds like someone was asleep at the helm. I wondered what the hell was wrong with the radar/Loran, helmsman's eyes when the first one happened. Definitely something amiss when it happens twice.
ReplyDeleteThe concern is that it's a systemic problem. Two accidents so close together hit that something is seriously wrong.
DeleteMy husband was in the Navy and he says the same thing. This shouldn't be happening. He thinks they're relying too much on technology. When he was in the Navy the watches were done by actual people. I wonder if its still that way. If it is, he says, maybe they have their noses in their cell phones and not on lookout.
ReplyDeleteYou husband knows his stuff. At the very minimum there should be human eyes looking out on the real world.
DeleteI read somewhere a couple weeks ago that there was some suspicion the Chinese have a device that scrambles a ships navigation devices. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteThere are still paper charts, compasses, binoculars, celestial navigation -a whole host of other methods.
DeleteNot only that, it's a warship. They should be prepared for electronic attack.
Of course, here in south Texas, WE don't have an accent, just y'all do ...
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