The crewmembers aboard Omicron’s World Indulgence cruise ship did not even notice their ship was turning when they found themselves taking off across the Atlantic Ocean with just seconds of warning.
At the time of the incident, which happened on Dec. 16, the ship was sailing in international waters, but the discovery that some of the 238 crewmembers were unfamiliar with maritime laws in the United States prompted the USS Carl Vinson to land on the deck of the Omicron and have them disembark.
The Vinson’s “arrival was not by way of notification or a code of conduct approved by the U.S. Coast Guard for the ship or crew to resolve the crewmember issue,” according to Navy documents.
“Due to the voyeuristic nature of the boat scene, the crewmembers put very little value in safety protocols and zero value in situational awareness regarding the Vinson’s arrival,” said Mary Crawford, Omicron’s Director of Quality Assurance.
“It has been very difficult to learn and to adapt to what is happening because our people have many different cultures,” she said.
The Omicron runs a shipboard maritime safety management system that is supposed to prevent such high-profile failures.
The ship’s MSS is based on a particular set of digital policies put together by the Navy that requires ships to be equipped with a detailed plan of what the crewmembers will do to mitigate and correct for danger.
WATCH: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Teases First Responders in West Virginia
Also onboard are so-called “watch” decks, high-tech mirrors that track the radar location of every ship, as well as motion detectors and loud speakers that blare new-release pop songs to remind everyone to remain alert.
“When you operate on a ship without a great deal of safety procedures that are contained in digital policies, you can rapidly lose track of what you are doing and lose awareness of critical actions,” said John Jackson, Omicron’s assistant captain.
There are currently 13 Omicron ships in service. Those that don’t meet the standards required by the Navy are confiscated and returned to their owner.
Subscribe to 4thEmpire for real-time NFL news, live-tweeting, videos and more.
Lachlan Markay Joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in April of 2010 and currently serves as a Washington-based correspondent.