Costa Avventuriero

With the heading 'Costa' those who know me would expect that I am about to write a few paragraphs on the high street coffee brand. Alas my friends, nothing could be further from my thoughts at this dreadful time.

With the Costa Allegra now under tow following a fire and loss of power in the Indian Ocean, we should all start wondering what on earth is going on with the cruise line industry and the further inevitable and damaging fallout for this type of holiday.

This catastrophe has occurred only one month and a bit after the sinking of the Costa Concordia with the loss of 25 lives. Some can claim run aground as one commentator recently did, but in my world on its side, holed and people dead equals a sinking. Worse still most of us recognise that that bad news sort of comes in threes. The ‘sods law’ of events suggests that a third happening will happen soon. It is inevitable, not necessarily for Costa, but somewhere involving a cruise liner. To be quite blunt, this second event so soon after the first one, suggests that sailing on the high seas (or the low seas close to land for that matter) has become a risky business for the holiday of a lifetime tribe. Of which I am one.

I believe that the British ship the Britannic sank not so long after her sister ship the Titanic and that there may have been a third liner. If not a third, then maybe the Titanic and the Britannic belonged to the then Olympic class of ships. The point being that the ‘3’ thing is an historical happening. It is not something new, and no one should be surprised when the third ship runs aground, sinks, blazes away, or otherwise meets its doom.

This storyboard has clearly demonstrated the urgent need for further regulation and safeguards in the maritime industry especially that involving tourism and the high volume transportation of fee paying guests. I am at a loss why there is no back-up system to restore power, and how the circumstances could have been allowed to occur that could disable all systems as a result of a fire. With 32 years experience in the fire industry, and a First Class Fire Engineering and Management Degree to boot, it beggars believe that ship design could be so poor. What really concerns me however is that I suspect that the fundamental flaws are not restricted to the Costa brand and could be replicated far and wide. It’s just that Costa is now taking the big hits whereas others may be sailing on the theme of; ‘but for the grace of god go I’. That’s not a case of trying to paint everyone with the same brush, but rather flagging up to the powers that be, that an urgent review of maritime safety is now needed to ensure that there is not an avoidable colossal loss of life.

Life safety regulations in the United Kingdom have all too often been a stable door reaction to the horse that has bolted. On this occasion there is opportunity to step up to the mark before the big event. That’s not belittling the loss of 25 lives, but the worry about the loss of 4,000 lives when their deaths could have been foreseen and prevented.

If the cruise line Costa brand survives; then long term maybe they could consider naming a future ship the Costa ‘Avventuriero’ as nothing seems to be straightforward for those that have recently booked a cruise with this particular company. In the short term maybe Costa need to undertake a significant review of its products and delivery and thereby restore customer confidence. For all those glowing in the sidelines and thanking that it’s not their fleet; the same review of products and delivery is also urgently needed. In all cases it must not be a back patting exercise and the reviews need to be independent so that the painful observations are made and the painful questions are asked.

Still Cruising

We are both very much looking forward to our next Cruise, once again with Celebrity Cruises.

Recent events suggests that having all of the safety things are lovely, because in theory everything will be fine, but now Cruise Companies have to build in 'human behaviour' into their safety systems and monitoring processes.

Who would have thought of an alleged 'sail pass' if the stories are true. Followed by an alleged early 'abandon ship' by the top guy if that story is true, and to top it all, a 'Not on your Nelly' sequence regarding the Jacobs Ladder, again if true. It could of course all be untrue and the chap really is a jolly good fellow. He may have in fact saved "hundreds if not thousands of lives". Then again, a timely; 'to lifeboats', followed by 'launch' could have resulted in a better outcome.

If any of it is true, then this storyboard must be a very sad eye opener to all of the Cruise Lines and not just the one that sank. How do Cruise Line senior managers deal with what you would never expect to happen? Risk analysis is about the unlikely, and who would have thought what happened could have happened before it actually did happen? Now we have £450m pounds worth of junk, and yet all the best safety features in the world were probably installed on that ship. Human behaviour may have taken the ship where it should not have been, and human behaviour may have failed to launch the lifeboats when they could have been launched. Only the fullness of time and the publication of the official report and the legal proceedings and their Appeals if applicable will tell us all what truly happened. At the moment we are simply double guessing. Yes, these guesses seem to be based on credible circumstances and initial 'evidence' but it's still double guessing until the experts have their day.

It is 100 years since the Titanic sank, and I bet when they launched her; they didn't think that she would sink either. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, does anyone need a good Safety Officer? You see, I've never thought 'outside of the box', because for several decades I have understood that none exists. It is people like me who are not constrained by the norm, the what should happen scenario, or the what could happen, that are needed now. People who see the risks and can identify the solutions. It is probable that Cruise Liners will require greater regulation after this episode. No one can complain, for after all, there are an awful lot of people on board when the boat goes down.