South Korea Ferry Disaster

[emmie]

i have been following this awful story, seems that the captain was not at the helm,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075632

[emmie]

you are right, just like other shipping disasters -

[humbersloop]

we won't know what led to this terrible event until the Korean maritime investigation authority establish the facts after a full enquiry, anything before that is rolling news speculation
plenty of questions though, for sure

[emmie]

this happened wednesday, so the investigation is under way

[emmie]

captain apologises

http://news.sky.com/

[anotheoldgit]

mikey4444

/// The Captain is not the only person on a ship that can "take the helm ///

In support of Mikey's statement, it makes little difference that the Captain was 'not' at the helm, that is why there are subordinate officers.

One does not expect the Captain of an aircraft to be at the controls the whole length of time, his 'second officer' (co-pilot) will take over the responsibility of the pilot at times.

[emmie]

if the vessel was holed, listing, going down, would he jump ship?

[emmie]

sky link

The captain of a ferry that capsized off the coast of South Korea with 476 passengers on board has apologised to the families of the victims.

In a televised address with his head bowed, Lee Joon-Seok said he had delayed the order to abandon the Sewol because he thought the sea was too cold and that the passengers, mostly children, would "drift away".

His apology came as it emerged that the the third mate steering a South Korean ferry at the time of a major accident was navigating those waters for the first time