Andrea Doria Collison
The collison between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm took place in 1956. The Andrea Doria left its home port in Genoa, made several stops, and was nearing New York, its final destination. The Stockholm left New York on its way to Gothenburg, Sweden. The two ships collided about 40 miles southwest of Nantucket and about 110 miles east of Montauk point. At that time there were established sea lanes- meant to keep ships out of each other’s way in this very busy area- but the Stockholm was initially heading north of its prescribed lane in order to help it make good time. Neither ship knew exactly where the other was and at the last minute Carstons (the Stockholm’s captain) ordered his helm to go to starboard (or the right) and the Doria went to the port (or the left) both thinking that they were opening up the distance between the two ships, when in reality it hastened the collison. There were a lot of mistakes made on both sides that resulted in the terrible accident.
Since this was essentially a radar assisted collision event, in which over-use was made of poorly handled technology, shipping lines were required to improve training on the use of radar equipment. The poor design of the radar settings, coupled with unlighted range settings and a darkened bridge suggested that a simple and available technology, a small light bulb (10 cents) on the radar set aboard Stockholm, might have averted the entire disaster!
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the dynamics and the relationships between supports and barriers.