UTMC

"this" being THIS. (Edit: added this other link.) And the captain and/or Princess Cruises should face charges.

Underground Terrorist Maritime Clowns--I'm interested in your take

If that is true, the captain and officers of that ship deserve more than charges being brought. Not helping someone in mortal distress like that is at least as great a crime as murder, and that is if the victims end up surviving. The entire cruise line should be taken out. Ship owners need to know their shareholders will be made very sad if their crews don't act the part.

Bravo for the passenger going to as much effort as she did to try and ensure something was done, even though ultimately nothing was done.

At first, I thought that the only thing I could think of in the cruise liner's defense was that they didn't see the boat. Because of the difference in size between the cruise liner and that fishing boat, angles from the bridge and whatnot, the bridge crew may have barely seen the boat and not seen the people waving. I taught fisherman in Africa survival of this very nature and one of the things we did was distribute blank CD-R's to use as signalling devices and how to use them to signal SOS demonstrated the difference between this type of signal and arm waving.

But I saw this:

But it turns out that three cruise passengers (all bird watchers, with either keen vision and/or equally keen binoculars) observed the men calling for help and urgently alerted a crew member and pressed the matter further. The cruise ship failed to stop. One passenger tried to email the Coast Guard. When she contacted Princess' corporate offices in California, she was given the usual corporate non-response.

and I'm thinking there was dome douchebaggery going on.

Ugh

I hope the media attention spurs a real inquiry. The Guardian, who the article quotes, is pretty well-read (I usually check their site for corroboration whenever I come across UK news from other sources).

Throw the book at them. Then some.
Fuckin' people.

I mean, for goodness sakes.
I once saw an interview with the former CO of HMS Conqueror.
When the Argentinian escort destroyers turned away rather than rescuing the crew of the Belgrano, the Brit officers could hardly believe that they'd be so worried about drawing fire as to abandon their fellow sailors. Even in war, turning away like that isn't to be expected. Not even what guys would expect who had learned their trade at the hands of men who had been in the Atlantic convoys when abandoning shipwrecked crews after submarine attacks was a vital if brutal necessity.
So what excuse can these SHITBAGS possibly have?

After the Costa Concordia incident, where the captain "fell" into a lifeboat and the coast guard had to try (unsuccessfully) to convince him via cellphone to return to his ship, cruise ship captains are getting a bad rep in my book.

^ Yup. Also, I believe it was Princess that got caught throwing trash directly into the sea back in the late 80's or thereabouts. Again, it was passengers videotaping it.

In the mid-90's (god that sounds horrible), we found a boat adrift in the Carribbean, nothing in it but a pair of socks and shoes. Creepy.
Fishermen frequently go out, have mechanical trouble, and are ultimately lost because they cannot afford radios, decent mechanical propulsion, education or anything else that may save their lives.

ehh its a cruise ship, I'm mildly impressed they didn't use their LRAD or Dazzlers on them.

I'm also surprised a rep. of the ship admitted seeing them, the company/ officers will be screwed.

Rev wrote:

there appeared to be a breakdown in communication in relaying the passenger's concern. Neither Captain Edward Perrin nor the officer of the watch were notified.

Does this response surprise anyone?

Rock wrote: LRAD or Dazzlers

What are those things?

Zer0 wrote:

Rock wrote: LRAD or Dazzlers

What are those things?

I believe that's 80's speak for looking cool or very fancy.

Zim wrote:

Zer0 wrote:

Rock wrote: LRAD or Dazzlers

What are those things?

I believe that's 80's speak for looking cool or very fancy.

"Less than lethal" weapons.
The one is basically the mother and father and weird uncle of all sound systems that make you deaf, the other is the laser show to go with it and make you blind. So, very 80s, indeed.

LRAD -

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is an acoustic hailing device and sonic weapon developed by LRAD Corporation to send messages, warnings, and harmful, pain inducing tones over longer distances than normal loudspeakers. LRAD systems have been used to counter piracy, as non-lethal crowd control weapons, and as communication devices.

Dazzler -

A dazzler is a directed-energy weapon intended to temporarily blind or disorient its target with intense directed radiation. Targets can include sensors or human vision. Dazzlers emit infrared or invisible light against various electronic sensors, and visible light against humans, when they are intended to cause no long-term damage to eyes. The emitters are usually lasers, making what is termed a laser dazzler. Most of the contemporary systems are man-portable, and operate in either the red (a laser diode) or green (a diode-pumped solid-state laser, DPSS) areas of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Cruise ships have these things? Damn. How well do they do if used properly in the case of pirates or whatever?

They work surprising well. There have been a couple of incidents recorded by the press where they slowed down/stopped the pirates. The LRADS are used more than the Dazzlers. The Dazzlers still have a habit of causing longer (than planned) effects. (there are a few pirates, dock workers, AB's, 3rd Mates', etc. who have lost some of their vision due to jackassery with the Dazzler.)

If you watch that fucking drivel Whale Wars, The Japanese whalers are using the LRAD against those guys all the time.

Before all you whiney sods of the UTMC start bitching about how I hate that crappy show that saves the whales. Save the fuck out of the whales, its great.

The show sucks, has sucked and if they want to be more effective don't record it and do something more "proactive" than throw stink bombs and risk teenagers lives in dangerous acts of annoyance.

MoraleHazard wrote: I taught fisherman in Africa survival of this very nature and one of the things we did was distribute blank CD-R's to use as signalling devices and how to use them to signal SOS demonstrated the difference between this type of signal and arm waving.

A use for all those AOL CDs! Finally!