WAKASHIO — The Course Alteration
WAKASHIO
Capesize bulk carrier · Off Mauritius, Indian Ocean · 25 July 2020
Source: Panama MA investigation (2023)
The Situation
You're the Chief Officer on watch, in ballast, transiting past Mauritius on route to Brazil. It's late evening. The Master, who's been at a crew birthday party, arrives on the bridge and suggests altering course closer to the coast — mobile signal has been poor for days, and everyone wants to make calls home.
The Lesson
An unjustified course alteration toward a hazard doesn't become sound seamanship because the Master approved it — and the OOW/Chief Officer on watch is the last real check before it becomes irreversible.
Human Element
Every individual choice in the real event looked small in isolation — one course alteration, one skipped lookout, one drink too many. None of them alone caused the grounding. Together, and unchallenged, they did.
Try the First Decision
The Master wants to alter course closer to shore for phone signal — no navigational or operational justification, just convenience. As the officer on watch, what do you do?
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