The Causes Of Maritime Disasters Essay

Technology advances has been most dramatic in clerical and service work, which has led to the deskilling of labor. The basic job of this service work is to handle, maintain and process information. Improvements such as the computer, voice recognition software and automation processes have led to the deskilling of this service work. As a result of this technology people are now facing the threat of losing their job because a process has been changed, upgraded or eliminated.

An iceberg with a height greater than 60 feet collided with the Titanic at 11:39 PM (Brewster & Coulter, 1998). A 300-foot opening was scraped into the side of the Titanic by an iceberg, opening nearly six of its compartments to water in just over a minute and a half (Eaton & Haas, 1986). Although multiple older systems of ship communication were in use at the time, the Titanic used a new type of media called Morse Code (Sciullo, 2012). The Titanic sent out the distress signal, CQD, shortly after hitting the iceberg and then added the newer signal, SOS, when things started to get desperate (Brewster & Coulter, 1998). At 12:25 AM, many of the passengers chose to stay on the ship because they believed it was unsinkable, as a result result, earlier lifeboats were filled to only half capacity (Deitz, 2012). However, the lifeboats had not started to become filled to capacity until 1:15 in the morning (Brewster & Coulter, 1998). More passengers could have been saved if they had filled all of the lifeboats. Unfortunately, the disaster didn’t end

Even though this concept was proven to work, it is still not widely adopted by the employees. When given the task of not using any technology for work

All of this in turn creates much more strain, not just to the individual but to the others around them. Prior to situations like this unfolding, Personal Responsibility, must be maintained, and good discipline continuously sharpened to ensure success. As sailors we are always held, and should always hold ourselves, to the highest standard and in keeping with the Navy Core Values both in our work and our lives as a whole to assure success in every facet possible.

pushing the limits, avoiding situations, going along with the crowd, or being overconfident are all catalysts for disaster. The people who go through these circumstances are more likely to have tragic endings or end up in undesirable situations.

These decisions makers have defined what the organizations mission is and are constantly working towards it. Realizing that crisis management must be more than mere lip-service, leaders develop training programs around various crisis situations and drill often on various scenarios that could envelop any organization. While training leaders stress working “smarter”, managing their training time around obsessive planning for numerous crisis events means being better prepared when an actual disaster

In this case, it is difficult to blame one individual for the Vasa catastrophe because several decision-makers were involved. Still, King Gustav’s numerous design alterations complicated construction and pressured decision-makers into accommodating his irrational demands. Additionally, King Gustav did not communicate well with the shipbuilders, admiral, and seamen, and instead solely concentrated on outshining other ships. Therefore, his lacking leadership and communication created confusion and stress, which trickled down and ultimately led to the failure.

Transportation has become one of the measurable aspects that can be used to gauge economic progress. Transportation faces many variables of instability and natural disasters are becoming an ever more common factor. Over 40 vessels were booked to arrive or depart at the port of Yokohama the day the 8.9 magnitude earthquake caused the tsunami to hit and cripple Japan. (Leach, 2011) Japan’s shipping industry and services, both imports and exports, came to an absolute halt. (Leach, 2011) The same thing happened in Haiti in 2010 when the country was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and U.S Armed Forces was sent to assist with the flow of incoming humanitarian aid. Ports were shut down and inland infrastructures were decimated. US Navy engineer’s first objective when they received orders

MEJRI, Mohamed, and Daniel DE WOLF. 2013. "Crisis Management: Lessons Learnt From The BP Deepwater Horizon Spill Oil". Business Management And Strategy 4 (2): 67. doi:10.5296/bms.v4i2.4950.

The catastrophic sinking of the Titanic, over one hundred years ago, continues to drive scientists to search for answers. Was this simply an unfortunate maritime disaster, or did human error play a role in Titanic’s demise? Bruce Ismay, president of White Star Lines, had a dream. A dream, to build a magnificent luxury liner that would transport people across the Atlantic Ocean in style. With the help of the owner, John Pierpont, and ship designer Thomas Andrew Jr., the ship of dreams was soon a reality. However, Titanic’s maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, from Southampton, England to New York, made history in an inconceivable way. Sadly, over one thousand innocent people went to a watery grave in the middle of the cold, dark, Atlantic Ocean.

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most famous maritime tragedies in the modern world. The Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912, while making her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Even though the Titanic was deemed unsinkable by her builder, White Star line, she sank after striking an iceberg. This picture (NewYorkTimes.com) emphasizes the tragedy of the 1500 people that lost their life. While the loss of life was incredible, it could of have been prevented. There were only 20 lifeboats aboard the Titanic and this amount was not ample for the nearly 2,200 passengers aboard the ship. Another contributing factor to the loss of life was the lack of training on the operation of the life boats. (History1900s.about.com). Life boats were

In this article, Robert Gannon examines several flaws that were found decades after the Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage in an attempt to provide answers to the age-old question that titles his article, “What Really Sank the Titanic?”. Gannon begins the article by explaining various details of the well-known story of the Titanic’s trip in April of 1912. The readers are reminded that the massive vessel was considered unsinkable and disaster-proof prior to its first trip at sea. After crashing into a large iceberg, a few of the hull’s compartments were destroyed and the ship quickly began to take on water. The entire vessel sank in three short hours, and the exact causes of the disaster are still not fully understood.

The impact of computer technology in the workplace has been enormous within the past decade, both positive and negative. Distant communication through the use of computers and mobile devices have overhauled the office setting completely. Email, social networking sites and the world of the Internet have opened a whole new avenue of communication. Technology has changed the entire workplace environment, the relationships, and how things get done.

When analyzing this disaster the first thing to consider is the engineer’s design of the Titanic. The Titanic was employing many new and innovative designs that were believed to make the Titanic the safest ship ever built at that time. The engineer’s of the vessel made claims that the Titanic was “unsinkable” and that “even in the worst possible accident at sea, the ship should have stayed afloat for two to three days.” One of the features that lead them to this claim was the 16 watertight compartments in the hull of the ship. The way they were designed allowed for up to four compartments to be breached and they ship would still carry

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 resulted in considerable damage to the environment, economy and human livelihoods. While BP, as one of the parties involved in the operation of the oil drilling on Deepwater Horizon rig, suffered huge financial loss and reputation loss, it was found to be the one to be mostly blamed due to its lack of risk management. As poor risk management can lead to an astonishing disaster like this, it appears to be necessary for every business to learn from BP’s mistakes and try the best to prevent such disaster from happening again. This report studies this case, focusing on two issues identified in BP’s risk management practices, namely its sloppy preparation for risks and its inappropriate communication strategy after the crisis happened. No evidence showed that BP had a sufficient emergency plan for the worst-case deep-water oil spill although the depth of the oil drilling was one of the deepest. BP’s unseriousness towards safety was also indicated in their attempt to shift blames to its contractors and the unaccountability shown by the words of BP’s executives during interviews. Based on the examination of BP’s deficiency in risk management, the lessons that can be learned from it are discussed. In brief, firstly, accurate risk assessment and appropriate emergency plan should be available before the operation is started. Secondly, post-crisis communication should show the world that the company cares and is accountable