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Subject: RE: TWL: RE: Another traditional instrument to bite the dust?
From: Jim Donohue (jim_donohue@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sun Sep 02 2001 - 00:55:12 EDT
Virgo versus Starbound is mildly more complicated than that.
Virgo had both a helmsman and the second officer on the bridge. Starbound
had a watch stander. There were 2 operating radars on Virgo and one on
Starbound. According to the CG it took Virgo roughly 45 minutes to rundown
Starbound while in Radar contact. Starbound apparently never noticed Virgo
until a minute or two prior to the collision. So much for radar watch
standing. Note that Starbound could have well protected itself by radar
presuming the set was working as is claimed by the Captain. I can't imagine
missing a large tanker on any working radar screen. The radar performance
was worse if anything on the Virgo where both radars and both watch standers
missed an 85 foot steel trawler.
Questions have been raised about whether the Virgo noticed the collision.
Virgo did not respond to any of the normal communication channels through
the period after the collision. The log notes were apparently not in
keeping with prior and post entries during the period of the collision and
immediately thereafter. Indications that interesting entries were found on
the Captain's desk and in his computer have been raised. All if of course
journalistic hearsay.. so we have to wait for a real record.
Conditions were marginal and Virgo has been charged with too high a speed
as well as failing to maintain a proper watch.
It seems improbable that this will involve much other than the normal
problems of keeping a watch.
Note that they ran down the likely vessels through the electronic tracking
systems.
Jim
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