http://disqus.com/people/1e9bea4db7867f4b84eb938234e9c25f/enThu, 22 Nov 2007 10:47:38 -0000http://gcaptain.disqus.com/san_francisco_pilot8217s_report_published_gcaptaincom/#comment-1342923John, I thought I'd post some of our previous discussion.<br><br>It seems fairly apparent to me and other captains the cause of this situation was the failure of the Chinese bridge team to communicate effectively and know their equipment. <br><br>I think the biggest failure here was the company changing out an ENTIRE set of officers at once. This is NOT standard practice for American ships. My company never changes out more than one senior officer per port unless there are IMPORTANT extenuating circumstances. Changing out the Chief Mate and Master at the same time is just dangerous because there is no continuity. Changing out the Master, Ch mate, 2nd mate and 3rd mate in the same week is SUICIDAL and it’s no wonder none of them had a clew how to tune the radar or ECDIS.<br><br>Sorry john I’m going to quote your email, “A ship's quirks, equipment and the interpersonal relationships among the crew are different on every ship and can't be learned in a short period of time.”<br><br>This is why some companies make a captain sail as chief mate on a ship before giving him command. How else could he learn the Furuno Radar needs an extra 1/4 turn of sea state adjustment to be tuned or that helmsmen XO CHIN tends to oversteer or that the second mate always forgets to put danger bearings in the radar?<br><br>My assessment:<br>The shipping company was criminal for changing out the entire crew at once<br>The captain was an idiot for accepting such a job<br>The pilot screwed up by not refusing to sail with a brand new crew in poor weather conditionsCapt. BillThu, 15 Nov 2007 15:47:44 -0000http://gcaptain.disqus.com/happy_thanksgiving_gcaptaincom/#comment-1343429Enjoy the turkey!Capt. BillThu, 22 Nov 2007 10:47:38 -0000