[Remember RMS Titanic, by Steinar D. Varsi]

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A survivor's story from MS Estonia, part 2

Now, almost 4 years later, not a day goes by without thinking of the "MS Estonia"

But for those of you that are wondering, I'd like to remark that I'm still working on a cruise ship, and every time we board new passengers, I can't help thinking:

Can we save them all?? Just in case we are to experience a "worst case scenario"
Will we be able to save all souls on board??

I'm afraid that history tells us: NO, We cannot! Counting from the Titanic and up to the present, I can't think of any disaster involving the total loss of a passenger vessel where all have been saved.

Now, why is that?? Today, our ship has every modern rescue and communicationequipment, and still, last week a passenger vessel from my line crashed into a supertanker of the coast of Sweden. Minor damage, of course, but still:

Why is it that accidents still happen, despite all of the modern equipment?


I'll tell you why. Because of the human factor. Humans react very different from what they are supposed to in the event of a disaster.

60% of the people become totally inactive. They don't do anything, and even if you tell them what to do, they still don't.

Another 10-12% panic, totally panic. They do stupid things; scream, cry, and are not able to save themselves.

The next group of people are the ones, that don't do anything themselves, but expect to be instructed of what to do. If you tell them, they will do anything you say, but if nobody tells them anything, they will most likely perish.

The next group are the ones that only think of themselves. They are dangerous, because they will do nothing other than save themselves; they even leave families and loved ones behind.

The final group of people are the opposite. They will do anything to save as many as possible, and often with great risk of their own lives.


Let's make a conclusion:


The first 3 groups are unable to save themselves, the fourth group has to be considered a hazard to the rescue operations and in some cases even have to be dealt with by officers or the part of the crew that has handguns. The last group can in most cases assist the crew in rescuing their fellow passengers.

If we use my ship as a guideline; 38.500 displacement, 2.400 passengers and 550 crewmembers, equipped with 10 lifeboats and lots of automated life rafts.

If the first 3 groups are unable to save themselves and nearly has to be dragged by the hair (we're talking about 1.800 people scattered all over a ship 13 decks high) and some may be hiding in fear. A part of the ship may already be flooded and inaccessible and some may just sit in the nightclub totally numb, and when the power fails, it will take even longer to evacuate the vessel.

How are we supposed to save them?? If the accident occurs at night, passengers and crew are asleep. It takes time to assemble the crew, and what if a part of the crew is killed in for example a collision?

The fourth group, the self centered one, will often slow down the rescue and are time consuming to deal with.

The last group will save themselves, but still does only count for 10-12% of the passengers.

The critics of my opinion may say that, "It will take a lot of time for a ship that big to sink." And my answer is: "Really?"

And what if we are being hit by a supertanker going 20 knots at 3 AM in the morning?
(The force of 300.000 tonnages of steel are so enormous it can't be imagined.)
And then loaded with oil!! What a cute fire that would be??

Well, the chance of us being hit like that is small; But it's not impossible!

And even if the ship doesn't sink as a result of that collision, some people are sure to drown, and then I'm still right. If something happens, we can't save everybody!

Now.. The storyteller would appreciate any serious comments (titanic@white-star.com) you might have to this.

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