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kiwirish22 karma

I find it hilarious when people try mimic a kiwi accent. They always end up sounding Australian or British. Or an American who can't speak properly haha.

kiwirish6 karma

In accordance with Rule 2, Rule 8, and Rule 17 of the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, there is no feasible way for a party to not be partially at fault in a collision. The Rules were deliberately written to make both parties in a collision at fault, because it takes extreme negligence from both sides to cause a collision.

I have navigated these sea lanes before, and my bubble for RADAR contacts is out to 20-24nm, and for visual contacts 10nm. It is amazingly difficult to not actually spot a ship at sea, even if automatic RADAR tracking is not working.

The US investigations deliberately stated their focus was on the fault of USS FITZ/MCCAIN actions, rather than on ACX CRYSTAL/MV ALNIC. That is for the civilian authorities to discuss, the Navy's focus should only really be on their own internal deficiencies.

None the less, in both cases the USN vessel acted with the most culpability in the collisions.

kiwirish5 karma

T, I doubt you'll respond to this, as I'm quite late to the party here, however I am a Navigating Officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy and have a personal attachment to this story as my ship in 2017 slotted into the FITZ task group in the wake of the collision.

What do you see as some key take aways for other navies to avoid similar fates? Is it through a greater enforcement of the Inspector General Office/external reporting agencies to whisteblow safety deficiencies?

Would you recommend the USN following the Royal Navy/Merchant Marine model of specialist Officers of the Watch, specialist Engineering Officers, similar to how the Supply Corps operates?

Do you fear any serious repercussions from the DoD with respect to the comprehensive destruction of Navy Senior Leadership?

How much faith do you put in VADM Aucoin's comments that he was doing all he could and that fault ought to lie with ADM Swift?

kiwirish5 karma

The Big Bull: A large Bull, signifying the importance of bulls to Bulls.

As if I needed more reasons to love it here.

kiwirish4 karma

The Rules of the Road at sea are deliberately written to ensure all parties are at fault.

ACX CRYSTAL was the stand on vessel in accordance with Rule 15 in a crossing situation and was obliged to keep her course and speed when risk of collision exists, or take bold action supplemented with whistle blasts to declare their intent. They did not do so.

In malpractice through Rule 17, the stand on vessel is obliged to take action by her manouevre alone as soon as it becomes apparent to her that the vessel required to keep out of the way is not taking sufficient action in compliance with these rules. They did not.

CRYSTAL is just as to blame for this collision as the FITZGERALD, however CRYSTAL is not an Aegis fitted Destroyer that should be well equipped with technology and professional mariners, the masters of their domain, equipped enough to avoid collisions. However FITZGERALD was a disaster waiting to happen.