The Costa Concordia

It is nearly 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic and there is an inclination to make rather too much of the sinking of a cruise liner off Giglio in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Still, six people, perhaps more, have been killed (more than 1,500 on the Titanic) and the matter needs some thought.

There needs to be an independent investigation of this, not a national one of the sort that gets sucked into the Machiavellian politics of the country. The idea, currently receiving an airing in the media, that the captain had gone too close to the island in order to honk the horn at a friend of his, and that he had subsequently departed the ship before the passengers, is too horrible to contemplate.

Some commentators have said that this is evidence that cruise ships are too big, but I don't think so. There were more than 2,000 on board the Titanic, and I think that 100 years later, with a better attitude towards safety (in part brought on by the Titanic disaster itself) as well as modern technology, double that number should not be excessive. In fact it is a miracle, little remarked on, that so few people have been lost.

So what do we expect? The Titanic was within regulations only having lifeboat space for 1,100, but of course regulations these days are far better. Lloyds of London approves the safety and design of modern ships, and they have a lot to lose so they generally get it right.

I think it is within modern capability that if the captain erred too far from an approved deep water channel an alarm would sound and that he would have to confirm independently that he knew what he was doing. I also think there should be a black box, as there is on an aeroplane, so that all actions are traceable. There has been talk of a power failure and of course there should be backup systems. I am sure there are.

My guess is that, once there has been an inquiry, this will not have been enough to deter people from taking a cruise. I certainly would, if it weren't for the frightfully dull people you have to share an enclosed space with.