Super yacht sinking - did the crew bravely survive or did they abandon their the passengers

[mids2019]

So....most of the crew survived this tragedy but the passengers died. Do you think it will emerge the crew should have e done more to alrt the passengers and indeed put their lives in danger to attempt a rescue? Maybe it was all just too fast?

I just think there seems silence from the crew at moment despite being survivors of a sinking vessel who have a story to tell. Are lawyers advising they stay quiet on this?

100%

This! It’s seems ok to speculate someone is an argumentative arsehole because they are super wealthy. In fact the boat owner was super wealthy, his daughter was just 18 and the others were his business advisers. Most likely they were asleep and should have been woken and assembled on upper deck much sooner.

I can understand the speculation but I think we should wait for the inquiry.

Fucking hell, what an awful post. People died. Quickly, in an emergency situation.

Nothing like the Costa Concordia at all. My dad was a ship's captain and was scathing in his opinion of that man.

Besides, the yacht was a boat, not a ship. I can't imagine the crew of a luxury yacht have anywhere near the training or responsibilities of the master of a cruise ship.

Crew on deck. Passengers below in bed. That’s the demographic. The cook died - he was also below, in the galley. The crews’ quarters would have been higher up the boat too. The boat flipped - all happened so quickly there were likely only two choices for the crew - save themselves or drown going below to try to save others.

My understand is that it sank in 60 seconds. Not much time to rescue anyone. It would be different if it sank more slowly, surely?

Nothing could have been done to save those below deck in this situation, it happened too fast. It's interesting reading from pp who have worked on yachts before confirming that crews are there just as hired help. Trained professionals aren't hired as I suppose they cost more.

I'm surprised that wealthy owners don't prioritise safety & hire crew trained in evacuation & H&S procedures. They certainly have the money to hire the best staff, possibly ex sailors who'd be more trained in H&S at sea. Not that I'd ever be invited on a super yacht holiday but I will think twice about accepting if I was.

Edited: This unfortunate accident might lead more owners to renew their evacuation & H&S procedures.

Stupid question but wouldn't there be air conditioning on a super yacht?

Well said

Having worked in some wealthy situations, the power dynamic is almost impossible to truly comprehend unless you've lived it.

Does anyone know how far down the boat is and if it'll be recovered?

I don't think people who don't know about boats can have any idea about just how quickly these things can happen, despite the enormous size of the yacht. The Mediterranean weather is also getting more violent, and the amount of energy on one of those storms is phenomenal, and with climate change they are getting more so. They can also be very sudden. If portholes and hatches etc were left open, and the yacht's interior was inundated by even a bit water, the extreme rocking of the yacht in the storm would have destabilised it incredibly quickly and the height and weight of that enormous mast would have increased this. Even a small depth of water can tip a vessel over very quickly - look at the Herald of Free Enterprise.

I'm sure there would have been no question at all of the crew "abandoning" the passengers.

Other posters have made the point that why should a poorly paid, possibly poorly treated deckhand or chambermaid have risked their own life to do so?

No; a plane is a commercial vehicle that passengers buy tickets for.
A private yacht is a private vehicle for the use of owner and guests only; the crew are there to look after their needs only. It would be like expecting a housekeeper to rush into a private house.

I don’t think there was necessarily a suggestion that the crew were poorly trained or not professionals.

Simply that the ship belonged to the passengers – so any crew manning the boat would be hired help, whatever their experience and qualifications. The crew were not hosting the passengers. The passengers were at the top of the chain of command as the employers and owners of the boat.

I heard an interesting interview yesterday (I think) with the man who had designed and/or built the boat.

He said there was no way that it should have sunk. I think he said there had been a 14 minute window in which the disaster could have been averted and implied that there had been negligence because the appropriate preventative action had not been taken (not just in terms of battening down the hatches but something about sailing into the wind).

Obviously I have no idea how true that is. It's equally possible that he was trying to place blame elsewhere because he doesn't want to be blamed for design flaws in the boat.

The Italian authorities appear to have opened an investigation for manslaughter so I guess the truth will come out at some point. Whatever the answer, it's a tragedy for all those involved.

There would be a mix- 10 crew so mostly they’d be just doing the hospitality side of it- chef/ waiting staff/ housekeeping. Then there will be a few who are actually sailing the boat who will have sailing qualifications/ experience. The point is though, as you say, that this sinking happened way too fast for anyone to do anything. Boat suddenly capsized, those on deck thrown into the water. Boat then sank within 1 minute. No time to get back onto boat to rescue anyone.

Possibly errors were made- hatches left open or some have suggested the keel was retracted and so didn’t balance the mast as intended, but that’s not necessarily a reflection on the captains lack of qualifications/ experience as much as human error.

Life isn't like a film.

No way I would risk my neck for someone who wouldn't risk theirs for me.

Even if the crew that survived did something wrong ( and I have no idea if they did or not), they survived.

My first duty is to myself and my family, not my employer,

“Head to wind?” That means you face the boat into the wind so that the sails can’t fill- stops sail boat capsizing. If the boat was anchored though I’m not sure if it’s possible - dinghy sailor so don’t have to contend with complications like having an anchor or a motor!

exactly what I was thinking - opening the windows to let air through just doesnt seem to make sense on a super yacht

I don’t think this is a stupid question, as I wondered the same. Hopefully someone with experience of luxury yachts might see this and reply.

I am not a yachty but a close family member is (owns and crews their own yacht and sailed own 50 odd feet yacht from med to nw scotland) . They say its impossible to speculate before investigation however they have re tracked on some app or other and could see the boat disappear in under ten minutes in literally the eye of a storm. Also been lots of really odd weather in med this year, loads of boats wrecked in ibiza etc. Extreme Hot weather increasing chances of freak weather conditions . They think extreme tragic event and could have occurred without crew error. Also questioning mast design /ratio to keel etc but are no experts

There was probably air con in the guest cabins but probably not the galley or crew quarters.

And the Titanic's designers/builders said it was unsinkable too.

No one said anything about anyone being an argumentative arsehole.

Just an observation that the super rich are used to getting what they want, which in some situations can affect their safety as previously noted.

I wonder why it’s appropriate to make that observation when all evidence points to the fact the only super wealthy individual on the boat never made it out of the lower deck.