Whilst on a short trip to Northern Ireland last weekend, I had a few hours to spare in Belfast and decided to visit the Titanic museum. I clearly remember an evening back in 1997, when our family went to watch the incredible movie at Westgate shopping centre in Harare, and have watched it several times since then, including last night. Leonardo DiCaprio starring as Jack, and Kate Winslet as Rose, were both a mere 22 years old. I was 9.
It is also significant that over a hundred years on from the sinking of the Titanic, the firm that was commissioned to design the ship, Harland and Wolff, went into administration last year.
Whilst walking around the various exhibits, I was drawn to one in particular which provided some reasons for the Titanic disaster and felt there must be some useful lessons for us in our personal and professional lives.
It is easy to underestimate what an unmitigated disaster the sinking of the Titanic was. It would be comparable, perhaps, to a new sky-scraper such as Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, collapsing, soon after completing.
Some of the factors leading to the sinking of the Titanic, as shown at the exhibit, include:
- Adverse weather conditions – The Titanic sailed in the North Atlantic shipping lane, to avoid icefields that drifted southward along the Labrador current, but that year, unusually strong winds had pushed icebergs further south than normal. Bad luck.
- Unheeded warnings – although equipped with the latest Marconi wireless telegraph, the device was intended for relaying passenger messages, not emergency communications, and first class passengers took advantage of this. As the operators struggled to keep up with demand, several ice warnings were missed or ignored by overworked operators. Distractions.
- Missing binoculars – a pair had been supplied from the Belfast to Southampton leg, but due to a last-minute change of crew, they were removed and never replaced. Stolen perhaps? As a result, lookouts had to rely on the naked eye to spot danger. Carelessness and last minute change in decisions.
- High speed despite ice warnings – Captain Smith did not reduce speed despite the ice warnings. When the iceberg was spotted it was too late. It was a quarter of a mile ahead and stopping the ship required half a mile of headroom. Stubbornness. This was surprising given Captain Smith’s 27 years’ experience captaining boats.
- Low bulkheads – The lower decks were divided into 16 compartments separated by watertight bulkheads to prevent water flowing to other compartments in the event of an accident. Although they extended above the water line, they were not high enough to prevent water from overflowing from one compartment to the next. Planning and design errors.
- Shortage of lifeboats – the ship had 20 lifeboats, enough for 1,178 people. This met the existing regulations even though the ship was certified to carry 3,547 passengers and crew. It was assumed that if the boat got into difficulty she would sink slowly leaving time for passengers and crew to be transferred to a rescue ship. Unfortunately, the Titanic sank before a rescue boat could arrive. Poor planning as well as under-regulations. A misguided belief that the Titanic would never sink.
- Lack of emergency drill – The ship never held a lifeboat drill – and passengers and crew were underprepared for evacuation. Lifeboats were loaded haphazardly, half-filled and many passengers struggled to find their way to the boat deck. A belief that the unthinkable would never happen.
- Unheard distress calls – During the disaster, Titanic’s crew fired rocket signals and radioed for help. There was a ship only 19 miles away, the Californian, but unfortunately the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night. The ship who did eventually turn up to help, the Carpathia, was nearly three times as far away, and so took much longer to arrive.
The list could go on, but in the end, it was a series of unfortunate events which sunk the disaster and led to thousands dying. A collision with an iceberg, (partly caused by excessive speed and the missing binoculars meant the ice-berg was not seen earlier), unusual conditions at sea, inadequate training and a shortage of lifeboats. And nothing is too big too fail. Except for big banks which tend to get bailed out by governments.
Re-watching the movie last night, I was moved by the part where the band continues to play on whilst everyone is panicking and the boat is sinking – testimony to the bravery, courageousness and selflessness of the band members.
Regulation has improved and made sea transportation safer. Health and safety regulation has improved too. During the construction of the boat between 1908 and 1912, there were 15,000 workers. Only the foreman wore a bowler had to mark his seniority. An added perk was that it protected him from rivets accidently dropping from above! In addition, we learned that several workers died during construction. There was a common saying that “He’s away to the other yard (graveyard)” when a worked died on the job.