Psychological assessment of a Sea officer

During the last days I have met people asking me how it was possible for an experienced Sea captain to let a giant cruise ship sail way out from the programmed course causing a terrible disaster. My answer has so far been that we do not know yet if the Costa cruise ship had encountered any serious technical problems or if it was a big Human Factor failure.
The latest reports from the media, though, have provided us with some clarifications: the officers on the bridge had deliberately taken a risk when they went off course just to salute a retired colleague ashore. The Captain and the First Officer have been arrested. It looks like a monstrous scandal.
Could this disaster have been avoided if the selection and training of the Sea officers had been even more careful from the very beginning?
This is for sure a difficult question, but based upon my more than forty years professional experiences I would say that if the employment selection process includes psychological assessments of the applicants’ capacities and personality the risk factors could have been minimized.
Such psychological assessments are often a basic requirement within Swedish Shipping industries. I have no idea if they are used also in Costa Cruises, but if not I guess that its top management will give it a try in the future.

Advertisement