provide a Defense speech include conventions and similar cases. Please get in depth Case 1

Others v the Kape Braeton

On the evening of Friday 6 March 1987, only 23 minutes into a voyage what should have been routine and steadily gaining speed to 18 knots an hour, 193 lives were sacrificed in the English Channel. It took only two minutes for the keeling over of the state-of-the-art (1980) "roll-on, roll-off" car, lorry, and foot-passenger ferry.

The Kape Braeton was carrying 459 passengers or drivers, 80 tired crew members still to complete their second sailing in a 24-hour window, 81 cars, 47 lorries, three buses. Some lorry drivers down below were taking a shower, eating their sandwiches, resting; while several dozen day-trippers - those who had joyfully taken advantage of a Sun newspaper offer of Belgium for 1 return, congregated in the lounge for drinks and a chat. Other passengers and crew were getting their bearings along some very long corridors leading wherever. A few others were out outdoors for a breather, still glancing back towards Zeebrugge.

The Kape Braeton had been designed to operate on the Dover-Calais route however on this voyage she had been deployed on the Dover-Zeebrugge route. At the time the ferry left Zeebrugge 80% of her crew were embarking upon the return leg of the second Dover-Calais round trip completed during their 24 hour shift.

Mark Stanley was the bosun's assistant on the vessel and it was his job to close the bow doors. At the time the vessel sailed from port he was asleep in his cabin and didn't hear the harbour stations sounding. This was the signal for the bow doors to be closed and all crew members to report to their harbour stations. Chief Officer Leslie Sabel recalls seeing a man in orange overalls whilst he made his rounds, he assumed this man to be Mark Stanley and therefore that the bow doors had been closed. The Chief Officer returned to the bridge, which was his harbour station and reported that they were ready to sail. Captain Lewry could not see the bow doors from the bridge and as there was no other way to substantiate they were closed relied upon the chief Officers report being accurate. Captain Lewry then dismissed the second officer and told Chief Officer Sabel to take his dinner break.

This meant that upon sailing the Kape Braeton's bow doors were open. The vessel began to pick up speed and as she hit 15 knots water began to pour in at a rate of 200 tons per minute. As the vessel filled the bow dropped even further and the water flow increased. The sound of the water gushing on to the vessel was heard by a steward on H deck, the deck on which the engine rooms, stores and passenger accommodations were situated. He assumed that a pipe had burst and called the assistant purser. The purser then put out a call for the 'ships carpenter' over the ships public address system. The 'ships carpenter' was a code which was used in the event of a general alarm to avoid alarming the passengers. The water reached the ship's electrical systems and destroyed both the main and emergency power which left the ship in complete darkness.

The rest was history. Your task is to analyze the situation stating which conventions apply to the areas of the case.

Requirements:

This case requires for student to illustrate maritime safety issues, including crew responsibility, the International Conventions which speaks to these such as ISM Code, SOLAS and the MLC.