Jumping Overboard In Panic

The needless death’s of passengers on the Costa Concordia, that is currently listing on her side off the Italian coast, is not the result of people being injured while on board. It is the result of leadership and direction on board. The absence of appropriate leadership from the Captain and, through his leadership, has resulted in passengers, (and from initial reports – crew), unaware of their responsibilities in the adverse event of an emergency of evacuation from the vessel.

What’s so hard and so difficult to accept is that the Costa Concordia, and other global cruise liners, don’t heed lessons from history and ensure that training is first and foremost for crew AND passengers. As information comes to hand we understand that the passengers who did jump did so because the crew were as ‘stressed and panicked’ as they were. Where’s the sense in this? Why don't cruise liners treat safety as the fundamental foundation for their business? Of course the line put forward is that ‘we take safety seriously’, but as the commentary suggests – this is far from the case.

Learn More: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/ships-demise-like-titanic-20120114-1q0tg.html