Opinion ID: 456170
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Dissemination of Crew Training Information

Text: 80 The district court found that Captain Liu was negligent in failing to instruct or train the crew of the SUMMIT VENTURE and failed to disseminate to them critical company and navigational information. Captain Liu admitted that he had never shown the company regulations or the IMCO rules to his deck officers before the allision, nor had he inquired whether any of his mates had read or periodically reviewed these regulations. The district court found that this particularly affected Chief Mate Chan who had never had the company policies and binding regulations outlined for him. The district court found that the failure to properly instruct Chief Mate Chan was a proximate cause in his failure to exercise his authority over the pilot when he perceived that the ship was in obvious danger. In other words, had Chief Mate Chan been instructed on the IMCO rules and the shipowner's manual, he would have realized his responsibility to take action when he believed the vessel was in danger. The district court was correct in holding that the failure of Captain Liu to properly instruct his crew was an act of negligence and was proximately related to the allision. 81