Opinion ID: 456170
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Bridge Relief

Text: 55 The district court found that Captain Liu acted negligently in failing to follow the prescribed procedures when he relieved Chief Mate Chan as Officer of the Watch. The district court also found that: 56 Liu did not know the position or course of the SUMMIT VENTURE or the position of the other vessels in the vicinity and Liu failed to ask Chan for clarification in this regard. Furthermore, when Chan left the bridge at 0727, no relief officer was present and, thus, Liu had to act in a dual capacity, as master and duty officer on the watch, for seven to eight critical minutes prior to the collision, rendering Liu too busy to monitor the ship's course or ascertain its position. 57 566 F.Supp. at 974. Appellant argues that prior to relieving Chan, Liu had been on the bridge observing and monitoring and knew the situation without needing the chief officer to brief him. Appellant further argues that Captain Liu was available to perform any function that may have been required of the chief officer and that there were two other pilots on the bridge with the statutory duty of navigating the SUMMIT VENTURE through the channel, plus a helmsman, and that therefore, there were more than enough personnel on the bridge to navigate the SUMMIT VENTURE. 58 The deposition of Captain Liu indicates that he did not ask any questions of the pilot because he did not want to interfere or disturb the two pilots. Moreover, his testimony indicates that because he was acting as captain and master of the ship and also duty officer on watch when the chief mate went forward to stand by the anchor, that he did not have time to check and follow so many things. Furthermore, Captain Liu felt that with one pilot on the radar and one on the conn, the best thing he could do was to keep quiet and let the two pilots handle the ship. In sum, the evidence shows that Captain Liu was too busy with his dual responsibilities to perform his duty to oversee the pilots and to exercise authority over them when he believed the ship to be in danger. Likewise, with Chief Mate Chan gone from the bridge of the ship, there was no longer a crew member of the SUMMIT VENTURE present who could effectively monitor the course and speed of the ship and exercise his authority to question or override the pilots aboard who were tending to these matters. 59 The significance of the failure to utilize proper turnover procedures is evidenced by the testimony of Captain Liu and Chief Mate Chan regarding their concern over the handling of the ship by Pilot Lerro. Captain Liu stated that he was concerned about the safety of the ship for ten minutes prior to the allision. Chief Mate Chan testified that he thought the SUMMIT VENTURE should have been anchored at buoy 16. However, both failed to convey their concerns to Pilot Lerro or to each other. 60 Had the two officers gone through the appropriate turnover procedures, a discussion of the ship's speed and course along with the presence of other vessels and the location of the bridge would obviously have occurred. Moreover, it seems inevitable that during the ensuing discussion their mutual concerns over the piloting of the ship would have surfaced and been brought to the attention of Pilot Lerro. While the content of this non-existent conversation is speculative, the hypothetical exchange illustrated above, when compared with the absolute failure of Captain Liu and Chief Mate Chan to adequately communicate, demonstrates the total abdication by the two officers of their duties on board the ship. The failure to follow established procedures for turnover on the bridge resulted in critical communications never being exchanged--communications that very well may have averted the accident. 61 We affirm the district court's finding that Captain Liu acted negligently in allowing Chief Mate Chan to leave the bridge without briefing Captain Liu on the matters that Chief Mate Chan had been monitoring, and further failing to make provision for replacement of Chief Mate Chan before his departure. 62