New Ferry to France (Launch Offer)

vienne86

Just browsing the forum and read this dreadful story. It has often struck me that there could be ANYTHING in the vehicles that are packed on those big car decks, particularly outside of the holiday season. Very sad story and a bit spooky too. That was a fairly new ship too - maybe five years old.

CJhaughey

vienne86 wrote: »

Just browsing the forum and read this dreadful story. It has often struck me that there could be ANYTHING in the vehicles that are packed on those big car decks, particularly outside of the holiday season. Very sad story and a bit spooky too. That was a fairly new ship too - maybe five years old.

Age has little to do with effective sea survival.
More important to know where the lifeboats/rafts are and proper emergency drill procedures.
Also make it a habit on a ship to know where the closest muster station is to you whereever you may be onboard.

First Up

CJhaughey wrote: »

Age has little to do with effective sea survival.
More important to know where the lifeboats/rafts are and proper emergency drill procedures.
Also make it a habit on a ship to know where the closest muster station is to you whereever you may be onboard.

I saw one survivor interview that talked of confusion because of language difficulties. Italian crew, mostly Greek passengers and no common language.

BenEadir

August 1

First Up wrote: »

I saw one survivor interview that talked of confusion because of language difficulties. Italian crew, mostly Greek passengers and no common language.

Pretty sure the crew on the Norman Atlantic this summer from Rosslare were Italian. Would the crew stay with the ship even if it is leased by a different operator? I can see the logic for why they would:-

1. They know and are trained on the ship.
2. EU TUPE regulations may mandate that they stay with the ship.

Personally I found them to be very helpful and I got the impression they were professional, more so than the equivalent impression I got from the Eastern European crew on the Oscar Wilde (if I'm not mistaken) but then the impression I formed and reality could be poles (excuse the pun) apart. What is common between the ferries however is that having a crew whose mother tongue isn't the same as the majority of passengers can be a real problem in an emergency when clear communication is both challenging and absolutely essential for the safety of all on board.

unkel

July 18

BenEadir wrote: »

Pretty sure the crew on the Norman Atlantic this summer from Rosslare were Italian.

The crew were all Portuguese but the command crew for lack of a better word for it (captain etc.) were Italian

All the Portugese crew I spoke with had very decent English, not sure about their Spanish / French but I can't see the former being an issue. Most French / Spanish passengers would have basic English too these days.

BenEadir

August 1

unkel wrote: »

The crew were all Portuguese but the command crew for lack of a better word for it (captain etc.) were Italian

All the Portugese crew I spoke with had very decent English, not sure about their Spanish / French but I can't see the former being an issue. Most French / Spanish passengers would have basic English too these days.

I stand corrected, they were Portuguese.

Regardless of their actual nationality I do wonder when under the extreme stress and pressure of an emergency whether trying to communicate in a non native tongue is not a disadvantage regardless of how familiar the crew are with any 2nd or 3rd languages. Just a thought.

unkel

July 18

Forgot to state that the crew were Portuguese / Italian on our journey. I don't know if there was a different crew on the fateful crossing a few days ago.

And there's not much you can do about the disadvantage you mentioned. And it is one thing to have a crew who all have basic English. But to find staff that are fluent in Italian AND Greek will be impossible, even if you were willing to pay them double of what they are paid now...

BenEadir

August 1

unkel wrote: »

And there's not much you can do about the disadvantage you mentioned. And it is one thing to have a crew who all have basic English. But to find staff that are fluent in Italian AND Greek will be impossible, even if you were willing to pay them double of what they are paid now...

True enough, it's just the nature of the international ferry business I guess.

I remember years and years ago when Ryanair were a new airline they had some dodgy East European aircraft and the only pilots they could find who were certified to fly them were Romanian. My facts might be slightly off kilter as it was 20-25 years ago but I recall being on the flight and passengers were freaking out that the pilots English was so poor when they did their greeting/announcement. They were afraid the pilots wouldn't be able to communicate with ATC and vice versa. Of course it wasn't an issue as I believe all pilots have to be ATC competent in English all over the world but then again if there was an emergency and you needed to rely on the pilots for instruction broken English in a Romanian accent probably wouldn't have helped matters.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

MICHAELO_4921

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

As far as I can see she has always been under the Italian flag for the same owners : VISEMAR DI NAVIGAZIONE SR.

Under the following names:
Akeman Street
Scintu
NORMAN ATLANTIC

L1011

BenEadir wrote: »

I remember years and years ago when Ryanair were a new airline they had some dodgy East European aircraft and the only pilots they could find who were certified to fly them were Romanian. My facts might be slightly off kilter as it was 20-25 years ago but I recall being on the flight and passengers were freaking out that the pilots English was so poor when they did their greeting/announcement. They were afraid the pilots wouldn't be able to communicate with ATC and vice versa. Of course it wasn't an issue as I believe all pilots have to be ATC competent in English all over the world but then again if there was an emergency and you needed to rely on the pilots for instruction broken English in a Romanian accent probably wouldn't have helped matters.

They had ROMBAC 1-11, Romanian built BAC 1-11 models but there should have been no issues with finding type-rated pilots. Its more likely that the cost constraints of the time meant they could only afford pilots from cheaper countries. The BAC 1-11 was used by Aer Lingus and BA so there would have been plenty of pilots around.

Preset No.3

Wow this is the Bargain Alert that just keeps on giving and giving!