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From: "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: Full video of ship hitting and destroying the Francis Scott Key
 bridge in Baltimore
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2024 19:03:15 +0100
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On 2024-03-30 15:37, Don Y wrote:
> On 3/30/2024 6:45 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> Wasn't there a cruise ship run up on the rocks a few years back?  
>>> Because
>>> the captain wanted to give the passengers a "good view"?
>>
>> Yes, a passenger cruiser.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia
>>
>> On 13 January 2012 at 21:45, Costa Concordia struck a rock in the 
>> Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio. This 
>> tore open a 50 m (160 ft) gash on the port side of her hull, which 
>> soon flooded parts of the engine room, cutting power from the engines 
>> and ship services. As water flooded in and the ship listed, she 
>> drifted back towards the island and grounded near shore, then rolled 
>> onto her starboard side, lying in an unsteady position on a rocky 
>> underwater ledge.
>>
>> The evacuation of Costa Concordia took over six hours, and of the 
>> 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 32 died. 
>> Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain at that time, was tried and 
>> found guilty of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and 
>> abandoning his ship. He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison in 
>> 2015.[3] The wreck was salvaged three years after the incident and 
>> then towed to the port of Genoa, where she was scrapped.[4]
> 
> But, IIRC, this wasn't the first time he had done so.  Therefore, his 
> employers
> COULD have noticed that his actual track would put the vessel in danger and
> reprimand him of it.

True.

> 
>>> I advocated for an alarm that I could sound to alert the skipper
>>> that we were approaching the destination so he could either stop
>>> the vessel or tell me to move on to the NEXT waypoint.  Given that,
>>> on small commercial vessels, it would be highly likely for such an
>>> autopilot to be (ab)used to free up an extra pair of arms (the mate
>>> at the helm) to attend to the OTHER work on the ship (e.g., preparing
>>> lobster pots, nets, etc.), it seemed highly likely that there would
>>> be cases where the vessel was under-supervised.
>>>
>>> My boss dismissed this outright.  Any such alarm would add cost as well
>>> as complicate the installation (because the alarm would have to be
>>> sited somewhere that the skipper/crew would be GUARANTEED to hear)
>>> both of which added to effective selling price.  He said, adding
>>> an alarm would just cause the skipper to cut the wires to the
>>> alarm (assuming it was ever installed).
>>
>> Sigh.
>>
>> Yeah, the Front Siena could be under such an autopilot system and the 
>> crew confidently waiting for the buzzer to warn to change to manual mode.
> 
> Like self-driving cars.  This doesn't free you from the RESPONSIBILITY
> for the safe operation of the vehicle.
> 
> When SWMBO bought her most recent car, backup cameras and blind spot
> warning indicators were pretty much standard across the market.
> One salesperson bragged that she never bothered to look over her
> shoulder when backing up or checking mirrors before changing lanes
> (as if the technology was infallible).

I use the mirrors for backing up, but actually the rear camera has a 
better view, so I use it most of the time.

I have no automatics for changing lanes.


> 
>>> Similarly, giving me control of the throttle would complicate the
>>> product (as above) AND still leave opportunities for abuse as a
>>> vessel adrift (not under power) is also a navigational hazzard.
>>>
>>> <shrug>  Shit happens.  Hopefully not often enough to demand cause for
>>> remedies.
>>
>> I think other method is for the autopilot to switch off and sound a 
>> buzzer on arrival.
> 
> Then the vessel is "under power" and "rudderless".
> 
> ANY autopilot has to be supervised.  So, how do you ensure supervision?
> (Or, do you just let lawsuits deal with it all, after the fact?)

It is what airplanes do. On certain conditions, the autopilot disengages 
and sounds some type of alarm in the cockpit.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.