Exclusive - U.S. warship stayed on deadly collision course despite warning: container ship captain

[Tapster]

Because..........humans!

We have self-driving cars. Why can there not be a simple system, tied to the autopilot, to ensure that there is no collision, even if everyone on both ships is having a party, or has unaccountably died suddenly.

 

 

 

[Gulfsailor]

1 hour ago, Tapster said:

Because..........humans!

We have self-driving cars. Why can there not be a simple system, tied to the autopilot, to ensure that there is no collision, even if everyone on both ships is having a party, or has unaccountably died suddenly.

 

 

 

That current autopilot systems are pretty smart and will warn. It wouldn't be hard to make it fully automatic. However, the system relies on sensors (radar for instance) and AIS (a system where the ships coordinates, speed and direction are transmitted). But if one of the parties (as was the case in this collision) is not transmitting AIS and has a small radar signature, then such system will fail. 

[Tapster]

OK, I understand.

Well, if the navy wants to be so stealthy, they should make more effort to observe what's going on around them.

[melvinmelvin]

How do US Navy and Coast Guard normally handle media relations during accident investigations?

There were some interviews / briefings during the first couple of days after the accident, but since then silence, as far as I can see.

 

Will they now keep mum until the investigation is completed and report written and distributed,

or do they normally have media briefings during the investigation process?

 

 

 

 

[whaleboneman]

On 6/27/2017 at 11:20 AM, nahkit said:

You need to have a little think about that.

 

 

I'll put it another way for you. You're driving down a highway in the USA and you're afraid you will collide with oncoming traffic so you turn to the left???

[nahkit]

2 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

I'll put it another way for you. You're driving down a highway in the USA and you're afraid you will collide with oncoming traffic so you turn to the left???

My post was nothing to do with driving down a highway which you full well know, it was in response to this statement that you made:

 

" So two aircraft approaching head on in a near miss path that would see them pass each other on their port sides both turn to port and guarantee a collision? "

 

If both aircraft turn to port then they will then be flying in opposite directions and avoid a collision.

 

 

 

 

[tifino]

and we've all heard the U.S. Flagship Carrier vs.Lighthouse joke... 

[The Dark Lord]

18 hours ago, nahkit said:

My post was nothing to do with driving down a highway which you full well know, it was in response to this statement that you made:

 

" So two aircraft approaching head on in a near miss path that would see them pass each other on their port sides both turn to port and guarantee a collision? "

 

If both aircraft turn to port then they will then be flying in opposite directions and avoid a collision.

 

 

 

 

With ships the same principle applies. 

[melvinmelvin]

The following is  a link to a US Navy Times article;

 

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/navy-struggles-with-approach-to-fix-crippled-fitzgerald-destroyer-as-investigation-continues?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NT DNR 6/30/17&utm_term=Editorial - Navy - Daily News Roundup

 

it appears that the damage to MoW is quite massiv.

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

Some links that may be of interest;

 

 

 

a reasonable account of the accident, me thinks:

 

http://nypost.com/2017/06/24/uss-fitzgerald-tragedy-still-makes-no-sense/

 

 

 

it appears that the destroyer CO was briefly on the bridge after the crash, before injuries took him down:

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/22/politics/uss-fitzgerald-investigation-update/index.html

 

[melvinmelvin]

while waiting for fresh substance,

if of interest here is an OK account from/by NY Times;

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/world/asia/destroyer-fitzgerald-collision.html

 

if not of interest, the link is still there!

 

[Tapster]

It seems clear that the Fitzgerald was completely unaware of the approaching container ship. 

 

I'm looking forward to hearing how so many crew members who should have been on lookout or watching radar were doing anything but. 

 

The captain of the Fitzgerald should have been woken when the container ship was 4km away from his ship, yet the ships continued to close on each other. 

 

The crew of the container ship didn't seem to know what had happened and, after the collision, the ship returned to the same course and speed, on autopilot. Maybe the crew were all asleep.

 

Apparently, the US Navy will announce their findings, once investigations are completed.