Ever Given report highlights Suez Canal pilots’ role in grounding

Ah, for the Good Old Days. When a ship&#x27;s captain might have some real authority.<p>I used to know both the Captain and Chief Engineer of a large ( 600+ foot long ) freighter on the Great Lakes ( <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Great_Lakes" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Great_Lakes</a> ). The latter told stories about the former arguing (via radio) with the ship&#x27;s owners, about speed vs. safety. At least once, after the Captain had <i>backtracked</i> the ship to a safe-ish anchorage in the face of worsening weather, he told the owners &quot;I&#x27;ll get your ship, crew, and cargo to [destination] long before the Edmund Fitzgerald does&quot; ( <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Edmund_Fitzgerald" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Edmund_Fitzgerald</a> ).<p>(The actual language was saltier than that. The Captain got away with it, and retired a success.)

The actual report is quite good.[1] See especially page 26, the text that is underlined, in bold, and repeated in the executive summary. &quot;After the wind had increased, the pilot was issuing more helm orders to the helmsman. These were either for hard to port or for hard to starboard, with few midships or lesser helm orders in between. The pilot did not give the helmsman a course to steer, only helm orders&quot;.<p>That&#x27;s the view from Panama, which puts a huge number of ships through channels narrower than the Suez Canal.<p>Fortunately, in the aftermath, the wild ideas proposed for getting the Ever Given out unstuck were ignored, and Smit Salvage, which is a very cautious outfit, was brought in.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gcaptain.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2023&#x2F;07&#x2F;Final-Investigation-Report-Ever-Given-23-March-2021.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gcaptain.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2023&#x2F;07&#x2F;Final-Invest...</a>

Captains are basically screwed in these situations as the ship responsibly falls on them but if they intervene or interfere with the pilots responsibility falls on them.<p>It’s a catch 22 and he probably should have demanded tugs but then he’d be in trouble with the bosses for costings.<p>Do it fast do it cheap and don’t fuck up.

&gt; Addressing the language barrier, the report states: “Language difficulties can also add to problems associated with pilots and these should be considered. In the case of M&#x2F;V EVER GIVEN, although Pilots orders were given in English language, the discussion between them was always in Arabic language, therefore the Bridge Team, could not understand pilots concerns (if any), the potential hazards, in order to on time and effectively conduct risk assessment.”<p>Having worked in a multinational company where many people speak other languages than the offical language I have noticed that people often don&#x27;t realise how important it is to understand why they came to a decision. They&#x27;ll discuss something in a second language then say the outcome to everyone. Often people don&#x27;t want to make a fuss and ask how they came to that conclusion and important information is kept from the team. I&#x27;ve seen the issues this cause on non important issues in tech. I can&#x27;t imagine how it feels when it comes to important things where people&#x27;s safety is involed.

I think there are a lot of take home messages here that are applicable to many different situations.<p>1) Have a plan and try to stick to it. Rapid changes (hard port&#x2F;hard starboard) without having a heading is dangerous.<p>2) Relying on local pilot&#x2F;expert knowledge is important, but the captain knows their ship better. The expert should be considered an advisor and shouldn&#x27;t be giving direct commands (especially without rationale). Experts can be wrong, so don&#x27;t blindly follow their recommendations.<p>3) Communication is critical. The language barrier between the pilots and the ship&#x27;s crew was pointed out repeatedly in the report. If you can&#x27;t understand the rationale for a decision, blindly following it puts you at risk. It is important that everyone is communicating in a way that the whole team (pilot + ship crew) can understand.<p>4) The strong, changing winds were a known entity before the ship started the canal transit. Sometimes the risk isn&#x27;t worth risking the whole ship and delay is warranted. Related -- don&#x27;t be afraid to ask for help. Tug assistance would probably have made this crossing much less eventful.<p>I very much view this incident through the lens of the XY problem[1] ... don&#x27;t ask me how to do a solution. Instead, tell me the problem or what you are trying to achieve, and then we can figure out the best solution to a problem. In this case, the pilots kept telling the helm to steer hard to port&#x2F;starboard. This made it difficult for the ship&#x27;s crew to achieve the actual goal -- keep the ship in the middle of the canal.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xyproblem.info&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xyproblem.info&#x2F;</a><p>It should also be noted that this is the Panama Maritime Authority&#x27;s report (the country the ship is registered in). The Suez Canal Authority had their own assessment and didn&#x27;t participate in this one at all. The initial SCA comments blamed weather and visibility for the grounding. Later they blamed the captain entirely (for too many commands, ironically). There is a lot of money at stake here, so reader beware.

A bit off-topic, but it is refreshing to see a news article that can be bothered to link to the full report!

<i>The Panama Maritime Authority made several recommendations, including... paying attention during transit.</i><p>Who could argue?

I&#x27;ve seen the wind cited as a Black Swan, but I think it&#x27;s really a known unknown. You <i>know</i> there can be high winds in the desert.<p>As for visibility: I&#x27;m not on the scene, but one would think that, with all the money at stake, the canal and the ships would have enough instrumentation that visuals are completely unnecessary.

I’m surprised that ships still rely on so much manual navigation. In 2023, when most of the aircrafts are pretty much handled by the computer, why are ships not working with same amount of automation? Pilots and captains should only be present to handle difficult maneuvers and emergency situations.