Boating Safety Lesson Learned from the Costa Concordia Sinking
Published: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 7:00 am
By: John Wisse, ODNR Division of Watercraft
The commercial and private boating world was shaken to its core worldwide on January 13 as the cruise ship Costa Concordia with 4,200 persons aboard ran aground off Italy’s Tuscan coastline and partially sank. Four days later, six The news report stated the cause of the wreck as “human error” when the ship’s captain apparently turned away from his path of safe navigation and guided the ship to a dangerously shallow nearshore position within close proximity to some people on the island watching the ship pass.
The captain was arrested, allegations of negligence and malfeasance ensued, and the story continued to grip world headlines in the week immediately following the incident. According to a number of boating officials and experts, the ship’s captain acted in a wreckless manner that led to the deadly incident and massive rescue effort.
Herein lies a vivid reminder of a simple truth about boating: the person driving the boat is inherently responsible for the safety of all persons aboard the boat and the eventual consequences for causing a boating accident.
State, local and federal marine officers and investigators continually train in search and recovery operations and in how to investigate boating accidents. Agencies, such as your state watercraft or natural resources agency, are joined by the U.S. Coast Guard and many boating partners to emphasize to the boating public the importance of keeping safety a first priority anytime while operating a boat or other watercraft.
How often might you have heard the frequent complaint: “A lot of people out here don’t know what they are doing and have no business being on the water.” It’s a serious concern for many boaters who in fact, do embrace safety while boating on the Great Lakes as well as our inland waterways. The best advice is to take a boater education course, get trained in how to properly and safely navigate a boat, and get some good practical experience in operating a boat.
Yet, with all the training, special certifications and experience – no one can ensure that a boat or ship’s captain always and without fail will exercise due regard for safety and to use common sense at all times. The Costa Concordia captain simply exercised some very poor judgment in navigating his ship. It’s likely he did not exceed his training, certification and experience, but he did apparently far exceed common sense and safe operating rules. Regardless how he may be eventually judged by the Italian court system and the court of world opinion, it’s important for the recreational boat operator to remember not to exceed their boating skills and that there’s no substitute for common sense.
