Case Study: Written Exam

The Soaring Albatross, owned by Atlantic Ferries (Dover) Ltd, was a roll-on, roll-off
ferry which capsized on the night of 6 March 2008, killing 191 passengers and crew.
On the day it capsized, the Soaring Albatross was working the route between Dover
and the French port of Marseille. This was not its normal route and the linkspan at
Marseille had not been designed specifically for vessels like the Soaring Albatross: it
had a single deck and the ramp could not be raised high enough. To compensate for
this, the vessel’s bow ballast tanks were filled. However, after loading on 5 March
2008 the vessel’s natural trim was not restored.

Before dropping moorings, it was normal practice for the assistant boatswain to close
the doors. However, the assistant boatswain, Michael Smith, had returned to his
cabin for a short break after clearing the car deck upon arrival, and was asleep when
the harbour-stations call sounded. The first officer, Jane Davis, was required to stay
on deck to make sure the doors were closed but she thought she saw Michael Smith
approaching. Also, under pressure to get to her harbour station on the bridge, she
had left the G deck with bow doors open in the expectation that Michael Smith would
arrive shortly. The boatswain, Thomas Johnson, the last person on G deck, did not
close the doors because it was not his duty.

Captain Patrick Seymour assumed that the doors had been closed since he could not
see them from the wheelhouse owing to the ship’s design, and had no indicator lights
in the wheelhouse. The ship left its berth, passed the outer mole and capsized about
four minutes later.

A public Court of Inquiry into the incident was held under Lord Justice Harper. It
found that there was poor workplace communication and negligence at every level of
the company’s hierarchy. This was quite surprising owing to the fact that all
employees have a direct stake in Atlantic Ferries (Dover) Ltd with ownership
interests. However, the vessel had not been modified to obviate the procedure of
restoring the natural trim after loading because there was no money in its account.
The board of directors were using the company’s account as the account of a hedge
fund that paid to investors their own money or money paid by subsequent investors,
rather than from profit earned by the members running the operation. Moreover, the
managers of Atlantic Ferries (Dover) Ltd had destroyed, mutilated and falsified
documents in anticipation of insolvency. The Financial Services Authority (FSA)
failed to investigate the hedge fund despite repeated warnings from the HM Treasury
and Bank of England. Also, whenever FSA examiners travelled on the Soaring
Albatross they were lavished with gifts; but managers of the Atlantic Ferries (Dover)
Ltd claimed that it is customary in the industry to give gifts to loyal customers.

Atlantic Ferries (Dover) Ltd had sought celebrity endorsement for the Soaring
Albatross. Focus group research had indicated that the endorsement of a gangster
rapper X-Crazy would appeal to young people. When this was announced there were
criticisms from religious and political groups because of X-Crazy’s music’s
association with the exploitation of females, violence and bad language. Atlantic
Ferries (Dover) Ltd is however committed to the social cause of ensuring that young
people are educated. In 2006, the company pledged to contribute 10 per cent of the
profits of the Soaring Albatross to the Young Education Project that provides
professional training in catering to underprivileged young persons.