1. ‘Safety outweighing every other consideration?’
Read statement – quite powerful no?
Would you agree?
A good part of today will be spent talking about how to improve safety and operating standards – so I just want to take you through a few slides to illustrate some of the challenges.

2. Recognise this Ship? White Star’s The Olympic Recognise this ship?
No not titanic …

3. Two sister ships… The Olympic: Commissioned 14th June 1911
The Titanic: Commissioned 11th April 1912

4. Olympic Class of White Star Steamers
Developed by JP Morgan’s White Star shipping group
Constructed by Harland & Wolff in Belfast included The Olympic, The Titanic and The Britannic
Designed to compete with Cunard & German Shippers on the prestigious transatlantic crossing in the early 1900s
Built for affluent travelers offering high-speed luxury
Harland & Wolff
Cunard & German –best at the time
3) Grand ships – first class virgin for their time
Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998

5. The Olympic – Prelude to Disaster
Damage to the Olympic from the HMAS Hawke impact
21st Jun 1911
Upon commissioning crashed into & almost sunk O.L. Halenbeck in Manhattan
20th Sep 1911
Crashed into the Naval Cruiser the HMS Hawke in Southampton
24th Feb 1912
Knocked off one of its twenty-six tone propellers on a well-known wreck in the Grand Banks
Some interesting facts…
Picture: damage done after Olympic went into HMS Hawke – quite significant damage!
Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998
Captained by Edward J. Smith.

6. Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998
Captain Edward J. Smith
27th Jan 1889: Ran The Republic aground in New York
1st Dec 1890: Ran The Coptic aground in Rio de Janeiro
4th Nov 1909: Ran The Adriatic aground outside New York
History of running ships too fast through narrow passages and of not adequately training his officers
Captain Smith was commissioned to command the Titanic
Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998

7. Titanic - Tragic Circumstances
14th April 1912
Smith received at least six warnings of Ice field from ships at dead stop in the area
No binoculars in the crow’s nest meant that early warning was near impossible
Titanic sped toward ice field at 22.5 knots vs a recommended 10 knots in such conditions
Safety Response Capability
Lifeboats on the ship had been reduced from sixty-four boats to twenty-two in lieu of more expansive promenades
The officers on board The Titanic had not trained with the lifeboats and were unsure of their holding capacity
There was not a standing safety-response plan.. the ‘Women and Children first’ response was a reaction more than a previously-agreed plan
Everyone knows what happened….lets just recap on what happened on the day.
Dead stop: means that the ships were in the area, had stopped and were warning other ships
Standard practice was to have binoculars….it was a clear night and you would have seen it
Ismay was encouraging the captain to break the record.
Motivations for this speed
Desire to break the transatlantic speed record as encouraged by J. Bruce Ismay MD of White Star who was on board for the maiden voyage
Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998

8. Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998
The Results
Lives Saved: Total passengers: 2205
Lives Lost: Max Lifeboat Capacity: 1600
It wasn’t until 45 minutes after the collision that officers commenced preparing the lifeboats
Twenty lifeboats were launched
Officers feared that the ship’s winches would not hold the weight of the recommended 70 people
All but the last few lifeboats floated were half-filled
It is a fact that had the Officers filled the lifeboats per their specification an additional 600+ people could have been saved
Would have lost at least 600 people anyway
20 out of 22 were launched
Lifeboats were not filled because concerns about weight – an add
Reference: ‘The Riddle of the Titanic’, Gardiner et. al. Orion, 1998

9. ‘Safety outweighing every other consideration?’
Read statement – quite powerful no?
Would you agree? D
Was the framed notice in the
chart room of every White Star liner in 1912

10. Could it have been prevented?
Consequences
Controls
Active
Passive
Procedural
Design and Construction
Asset Operation/ Early Warning Systems
Asset Operation/ Safe Operating Limits
Leadership Behaviours
People & Competencies
Design & Construction
People & Competencies
Emergency Response
Barriers
“….”
“….
“…..”
“Check that employees in safety-critical roles are competent to do the job”
“Do not set conflicting targets”
”Display visible commitment to Safety”
“Construct all equipment with inherently safer design principles”
“Conduct regular checks to check early warning systems are functional”
“Define and stick to safe operating limits”
Examples of Executive Rules
HAZARD
REALIZATION
Ship hits iceberg
1500 Fatalities
HAZARD Ship on High Ocean
Damage to bulkhead
Ship sinks
There was no emergency response/ standing safety plan in place
Design didn’t take into account damage beyond front watertight bulkhead
No binoculars in crows nest
Desire to break the transatlantic speed record encouraged by the White Star MD
Max lifeboat capacity was far less than total number of passengers on board
Captain J Smith had a history of running ships too fast through narrow passages
Breaks in Barriers
Titanic sped toward ice field at 22.5 knots vs a recommended 10 knots
Officers had not trained with the lifeboats and were unsure of their holding capacity
Most incidents happen as a result of several barriers failing: processes not in place or not followed, accountabilities not clear, lack of competencies and/or assurance