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Conception trial begins
- Thread starter rmorgan
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nolatom
Contributor
Me too.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
SlugLife
Contributor
Imagine this scenario:
"Bob the owner" of Conception is a cheap and greedy bastard. Bob hires cheap and desperate workers. Bob hires the fewest workers possible, so few there's nobody left for night-watch. Each fewer worker, is one more available passenger-cot and one less crew to pay. Bob is aware that his crew doesn't follow safety procedures, do safety briefings, etc, but he doesn't care because they do enough of a job to take the boat out for a few days with a bunch of scuba-divers and generally bring them back. Bob is aware of all the safety features missing, the lack of escape hatches, fire-suppression, fire-warning, fire-fighting systems, and escape drills. But addressing that is expensive and time-consuming, and customers don't pay for safety features do they?
My read of the Conception disaster, and what could have prevented people from dying, including 2 close-friends of a personal close-friend, is that "Bob the owner" is ultimately the person with the most influence, ability, and responsibility for this disaster, because "Bob" is the only one who could have paid for safety equipment, hired better or more workers, and so-on.
If the coast guard "pulled over" this vessel, found it to be in violation of fire-safety-statues, who would pay the fine? The "captain" (operator/driver) or "Bob the owner?" It's certain possible this captain is also the owner. I'm just wondering if it's possible that the only person criminally charged is perhaps 10% responsible for the neglect, ignoring the #1 person who is 90% responsible.
"Bob the owner" of Conception is a cheap and greedy bastard. Bob hires cheap and desperate workers. Bob hires the fewest workers possible, so few there's nobody left for night-watch. Each fewer worker, is one more available passenger-cot and one less crew to pay. Bob is aware that his crew doesn't follow safety procedures, do safety briefings, etc, but he doesn't care because they do enough of a job to take the boat out for a few days with a bunch of scuba-divers and generally bring them back. Bob is aware of all the safety features missing, the lack of escape hatches, fire-suppression, fire-warning, fire-fighting systems, and escape drills. But addressing that is expensive and time-consuming, and customers don't pay for safety features do they?
My read of the Conception disaster, and what could have prevented people from dying, including 2 close-friends of a personal close-friend, is that "Bob the owner" is ultimately the person with the most influence, ability, and responsibility for this disaster, because "Bob" is the only one who could have paid for safety equipment, hired better or more workers, and so-on.
If the coast guard "pulled over" this vessel, found it to be in violation of fire-safety-statues, who would pay the fine? The "captain" (operator/driver) or "Bob the owner?" It's certain possible this captain is also the owner. I'm just wondering if it's possible that the only person criminally charged is perhaps 10% responsible for the neglect, ignoring the #1 person who is 90% responsible.
KevinNM
Contributor
The person who the news talked about as the owner is not the guy in court today. The guy in court may or may not have an ownership interest in the company but I’ve never seen that stated. My impression is that he was a fairly senior long-term employee, or possibly contractor. How independently he ran the boat is also unclear to me.
The "operator/driver" is the MASTER of the boat and is directly responsible for operating the vessel safely or locking it at the dock and going home. If he finds or faces any safety issues he can't correct for any reason, he locks the boat and goes home and nobody sails anywhere with the boat. He mails the keys to the owner and transfers custody to them. If decides to sail with crew and passengers on this boat with any condition that is unsafe, he is responsible in a criminal case.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
All this talk of greed and such is out of touch with reality. The best way to make a million dollars in the dive industry is to start with 2 and stop when you only have 1 left. It costs a lot to operate a boat, but divers in general, don't like to pay a lot. Exasperating this is the fact that most dive op owners are horrible businesspeople. You glibly ascribe to greed what in reality is their survival as a business.
However, business practices aside, the master of the craft is responsible for the safety of their crew and passengers. These precious souls are trusting them for their safety while on their craft. Fires can and do happen with subsequent horrific loss of life. We can speculate all we want on who is to blame, but I want to hear more about the trial and less speculation. After all, the court can ascribe blame and even punishment. We can't.
However, business practices aside, the master of the craft is responsible for the safety of their crew and passengers. These precious souls are trusting them for their safety while on their craft. Fires can and do happen with subsequent horrific loss of life. We can speculate all we want on who is to blame, but I want to hear more about the trial and less speculation. After all, the court can ascribe blame and even punishment. We can't.
OP
Per the request of the Chair, I pulled down the testimony of a witness with substantial maritime experience and licensure who worked briefly aboard Conception a few weeks before she burned. it was separately transcribed because the defense seeks to strike it—the mine run of transcript is not available at this point. It is attached (let me know if it won’t download).
nolatom
Contributor
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