Eight Down: Edmund Fitzgerald -Derbyshire Marine Electric - Herald of Free Enterprise Estonia– Sewol - El Faro - Stellar Daisy

by David Reid

Eight Down reviews eight maritime casualties over forty-two years beginning with the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior in 1975 to the Stellar Daisy in 2017. As a former seafarer and member of the maritime profession for the past fifty years, all of the “Eight” have taken place during my watch. I have found resonance with my own experiences, that has sparked my curiosity. I explore the connective threads that will illustrate how these events are the consequence of what Professor James Reason has called the “Swiss Cheese Model.” I know from my own experience that there were many instances when I might have been but one step away from being a maritime casualty — is it luck? Or is it the awareness or raised consciousness of someone who acts before that last step occurs? I hope to provide insight into the management of change as it relates to safety and the avoidance of traveling through the final hole in a "Swiss Cheese.”

279 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 10, 2019

Reviews

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a general overview of 8 maritime disasters and the investigations into their causes and resultant changes to behaviour, legislation etc. It takes a look at the Swiss cheese theory of accident occurrence, that all the holes in a Swiss cheese have to line up for an accident to occur, where the holes represent human errors, manufacturing faults, weather etc. If just one hole is out of alignment (as in if one thing did not happen in the chain of events), the accident would not have occurred. There is extensive use of accident reports and witnessed testimonies. There is also a bibliography at the back for further reading. I did enjoy this book, primarily because it covered a few accidents I'd not read about before. It was well written and easy to read.