Most ships operate on autopilot. I’m guessing the one at anchor didn’t have its transponder running, and there was no one really paying attention on the bridge of the other, since 99.9% of the time the ship runs itself, and the ocean is a very big and empty space.
Marine radar tends to have a collision alert. Even on autopilot, someone on the bridge should hear alarm bells. Assuming their equipment works. So gross negligence most likely.
Well, unless you’re talking about a different transponder, the Marine Traffic sites all show that the oil tanker that was hit was at anchor and her location is still being reported live by the transponder onboard.
I also am fairly sure that there are heavy fines for turning it off, but I’m not a mariner and don’t pretend to be one on the internet.
Most ships operate on autopilot. I’m guessing the one at anchor didn’t have its transponder running, and there was no one really paying attention on the bridge of the other, since 99.9% of the time the ship runs itself, and the ocean is a very big and empty space.
But that’s mostly speculation.
Marine radar tends to have a collision alert. Even on autopilot, someone on the bridge should hear alarm bells. Assuming their equipment works. So gross negligence most likely.
Well, unless you’re talking about a different transponder, the Marine Traffic sites all show that the oil tanker that was hit was at anchor and her location is still being reported live by the transponder onboard.
I also am fairly sure that there are heavy fines for turning it off, but I’m not a mariner and don’t pretend to be one on the internet.