by Capt. Michalis Fragkias
I was the Second Officer on the “Athina Zafirakis”, a beautiful 28,000 DW cargo ship, owned by Stavros Livanos shipping company, which we took over from the Hakodate shipyard in Japan in August 1968. The ship’s captain was Captain Mikes Saliaris, this great and charismatic man, about whom I wrote in the article “Implementation of COLREGS in 1969”, which I uploaded to LinkedIn. 09/06/2025 and in allaboutshipping.
One quiet morning in April 1969, we entered Tokyo Bay, bound for the port of Yokohama, returning to Japan with a cargo of grain which we loaded in Portland Oregon of the USA.
This is where the Case Study begins which has to do with what we call Situational Awareness!
We were sailing almost with Tramontana course in the channel towards the port of Yokohama, when the Atlantic Empress a tanker of the same company with Captain Petros Foros as Captain began to approach us from the left. The two Captains, originally from Vrontados, Chios, knew each other and caught up on a conversation over the VHF. – Where are you going, Petros, asked Captain Mikes. – Yokohama replied Captain Petros. – You, Mikia? – Yokohama, replied our Captain.
At some point the conversation was over, the tanker passed us and after a few minutes changed course about 30 degrees to the port!!!
Not even 2 seconds passed when the captain asked me! – Where are we going, Michalis? – Yokohama Captain, I replied. – Where did Petros say they are going? He asked me again. – I heard they are going to Yokohama, I said! – Then tell me since we are both going to Yokohama, why are we going this way and he from there? And he showed me with one hand pointing to our course and with the other at an acute angle to the left the course of the other ship!
– I don’t know why the other ship turned to port. I replied. – Two minutes ago, I made a position with bearings from the Fortakia islands (Fortress Islands). We are on our course – I don’t know what you did with the bearings. I want you to tell me WHY we are going from here and the other ship from there, since we are both going to Yokohama port, he insisted.
We had to find an answer to this big question, which was also completely justified. So, I told Marconi (Radio officer) to ask the colleague on the other ship why they turned to the port. We got the answer. The tanker was going to Yokohama, but not to its port. She was going to the Homoku shipyard, which was a little south of Yokohama, for some minor repairs and it justifiably turned to follow the relevant channel! After giving me a strange look, the captain calmed down.
After a while we arrived at Yokohama anchorage, dropped anchor safely and while I was tidying up the bridge, I was thinking about the episode I described to you!
The captain became concerned when he saw the other ship changing course! In other words, he applied what he himself had taught me a few years ago. The principles of what we today call “Situational Awareness”! How should I always worry, why should I worry about, and what should I do about the things that cause me concern? (I developed all of this in the article I posted on LinkedIn in June 2023 titled “Situational Awareness – A Mentoring Case 58 years ago).
When I think back to this story, without wanting to, my mind goes in the tragic train collision in Tempi resulting in the terrible loss of so many innocent people. There are too many Ifs that if they had existed, this terrible accident might not have happened. I do not want to, and it is not my intention to mention them! I will only say one thing, which is related to what I described to you and which I experienced on the bridge of a cargo ship many years ago. From what we heard or read; this unfortunate Train Engine Driver became worried when the fatal Stationmaster put him on the line from which he had been coming down from Thessaloniki for so many years. He was making phone calls, trying to find out why they put him on this line! He failed; he did not have enough time!
In our case study, there was no chance in a million that we would ensure and assure the captain that our ship was on the right course heading to the destination port. The port of Yokohama!
Not even two seconds had passed since the captain became concerned when he saw the other ship changing course. And he wouldn’t rest until we investigated and found the reason why this had happened!
There are dozens of other similar little stories that I experienced during the five years that I served with Captain Mikes Saliaris. Little stories that, however, had great and very important lessons that contributed greatly to the shaping of my own maritime career! And while these happened 56 years ago, most of them are still valid today, in terms of safety at sea!
