I bet the Capt was drunk... etc..

Hey Scotty... a few years ago I spent a few months
aboard a small foreign flagged container ship that in
their monthly run had to go in and out of the Bay area
before they headed off for their South Pacific ports of
call.

Accordingly... I can almost unequivocally assure you
that the ship's Master (Captain) and his duty helmsman
and the local pilot were on the bridge doing their "thing"
particularly in that port off call... which you and I use
to refer to as the "Gay Bay" as truckers.

And yeh... such as yourself... I am kind of wondering what
condition their condition might have been at that time of the
morning... that could have adversely effected their judgement.

To the best of my knowledge based on my limited exposure on
the bridge of commercial vessels... the pilot is the one
issuing orders on the "bearings" and the duty helmsman (crew
member) makes the adjustments at the wheel. Meanwhile the
Master stands by in the background.

Maybe there was a communication problem between the pilot and
helmsman and/or the electronics where malfunctioning.

But I understand your negative response to a certain extent.

Your talking about a major carrier/charter and ship owner and
sh*t happens.

Like the Valdez incident... it makes you wonder.

Bill