First appeared in USA Today
North America’s largest cruise lines are not answering
questions about whether they allow captains to take ships close to shore in
so-called ‘sail-by salutes’ — a practice that some are blaming for this month’s
Costa Concordia disaster.
USA TODAY’s Cruise Log sent questions on the topic Tuesday
to spokespeople for the six major U.S.-based lines that account for the
majority of all cruises taken by North Americans, and by Wednesday afternoon
none had answered the questions.
Spokespeople for two of the lines, Princess Cruises and
Holland America, said they would have no comment on the subject. A spokeswoman
for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, which are sister lines, said on
Tuesday that she would look into the matter but by Wednesday afternoon had not
gotten back with answers. A spokeswoman for Carnival acknowledged the questions
but also did not get back with answers despite repeated requests.
A spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line pointed to a letter
on safety sent to customers this week by CEO Kevin Sheehan that she said
addressed the issue. The letter has a single line related to the topic that
noted the company’s officers “follow pre-set voyage plans which are thoroughly
reviewed and discussed by the captain and bridge team prior to port departures
and arrivals.”
The letter did not address the questions of whether the
company allows its captains to deviate from the pre-set voyage plans or whether
Norwegian captains had done so in the past, either with or without
authorization.
The captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino,
reportedly has said that his managers told him to take the vessel close to the
shoreline of the island of Giglio on the night it ran aground. Costa Cruises
has denied that it ordered or authorized the maneuver.
At least 16 passengers died after the ship hit rocks near
the island and partially sank.
Costa Cruises Chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi suggested
in testimony before an Italian parliamentary committee on Wednesday that
sail-by salutes do happen with cruise line approval, the AP reports. The news
service says Foschi defended the practice of what was referred to as “tourist
navigations,” whereby cruise ships steer close to shore to give passengers a
look at the sites.
“It’s something that enriches the cruise product,” Foschi
said, according to AP. “There are many components of the cruise product, and we
have to do them like everyone else because we are in a global competition.”
Foschi stressed that such deviations from charted routes are
supposed to follow strict protocols that ensure safety including informing
nearby ports and the company.
“For anyone who knows that zone, that ship with those
characteristics shouldn’t have been there,” he said of the Costa Concordia’s
route near Giglio.
Industry watchers say the question of just how much sail-by
salutes are condoned by cruise companies may prove crucial to the eventual
resolution of who is to blame for the Costa Concordia accident.
“The path of the cruise ship that led to this disaster was the
wrong one to take. That much we know,” MaritimeProfessional.com editor Joseph
Keefe writes today on his blog. “Just who, if anyone, ultimately authorized
this sort of behavior is still very much in question. So is the issue of how
much leeway is given to ship’s officers, at this company and every other one
that operates so much as a twenty-foot launch with an outboard anywhere else in
the world.”
Passenger ship historian and writer Peter Knego says that
whether approved by cruise companies or not, sail-by salutes both near land and
between two ships at sea are a time-held tradition going back to the days of
the ancient mariner.
“For me, as a ship lover, it is one of the great joys of
cruising,” Knego says. “But obviously, it needs to be done only when safety is
not compromised.”
Knego says that Italian and Greek seafarers, in particular,
long have been known for sail-by salutes. “There are spectacular images of
classic Italian liners such as Rex and Conte di Savoia passing each other
mid-sea, only hundreds of feet apart, decks lined with passengers and whistles
blowing,” he notes, adding that the shores of Italy are peppered with little
towns of mariners and their families that often draw salutes from fellow
mariners.
“While anchored off Sorrento on (Oceania Cruises’) Insignia,
I watched as both the passing (Silversea Cruises-operated) Silver Whisper and
(MSC Cruises-operated) MSC Orchestra sailed up towards the cliffs, blew their
horns, then returned to their southbound course,” Knego recalls. “I was told
later that a famous sea captain lives in Sorrento and that ships often salute
him. “
Knego also recounted a voyage on the MSC Fantasia where the
ship did not alter course but gave a hearty horn blast to the town of Camogli,
southeast of Genoa, which is known for its seafarers. And he once was on a
cruise ship that altered course to salute the island of Tinos, where several of
the officers had families.
Another longtime industry watcher, CruiseCritic.com editor
Carolyn Spencer Brown, writes in an online Conde Nast Traveler column this week
that she once was on a cruise ship that pulled into a small harbor in the
Adriatic so the captain could say hello to his wife and twin daughters, who
were in a motorboat waving up at him.
“At the time I thought it was charming,” Spencer Brown says.
“It didn’t occur to me it could possibly be unsafe.”
Spencer Brown predicts that in the wake of the Costa
Concordia accident any line that currently permits captains to go off course
for reasons other than emergencies likely will prohibit the practice unless
expressly authorized.
In the case of Costa Concordia’s sail-by of Giglio on Jan.
13, she says, “the captain didn’t have on hand the wealth of knowledge,
research and maritime charting that could have kept the ship away from rocky
terrain.”
