Are there really two captains?

[KMooney929]

Hello!

 

My husband swears that there are two captains on every ship. One captain who really runs the ship and the other captain, who looks like he is from central casting, and who is the greeter at the formal dinners, frequent cruiser parties, etc. Does anyone have the lowdown on this? I have a dinner bet on this.

 

Thanks!

[CaptData]

Yes and no. Yes there are two Captains, one is called Capt (or Ship's Captain) at all times, the other is the Staff Captain (think second in comand). The Staff Captain sometimes does the parties and Meet and Greets but the Captain is the big man who decideds which way the ship is going. The Ship's Capt does the Formalt Night Meet and Greet and the Dinner. Sometimes you may find that you will be sitting with the Staff Captain.

[ryansmemom]

Actually the Staff Captain has the rank of Captain because he hold a Master's license and is legally able to command the ship. Captain in this sense is not just a courtesy title. It is a legal designation. Someone needs to be in charge of the giant ship and should the Captain become incapacitated there is someone to take over and the saftey of the crew and passengers is assured.

 

So, the answer is that yes there are two Captains on some ships. And no, the Staff Captain's job is more than just to shmooze with the passengers. Both the Captain and Staff Captain do that. We have had dinner with both types of Captain and they are equally charming and interesting.

 

Linda

[kitty9]

On some lines he's known as the Vice Captain. The Vice or Staff Captain is mainly responsible for crew discipline and security matters on board the ship. On one cruise I was on, the Master (Captain) was taken ill and the Vice Captain commanded the ship until a replacement Captain could come on board.

[kryos]

Actually the Staff Captain has the rank of Captain because he hold a Master's license and is legally able to command the ship. Captain in this sense is not just a courtesy title. It is a legal designation. Someone needs to be in charge of the giant ship and should the Captain become incapacitated there is someone to take over and the saftey of the crew and passengers is assured.

 

So, the answer is that yes there are two Captains on some ships. And no, the Staff Captain's job is more than just to shmooze with the passengers. Both the Captain and Staff Captain do that. We have had dinner with both types of Captain and they are equally charming and interesting.

The way I understand it as that the staff captain is in charge of the ship's hotel departments. He's the overall point of oversight for the hotel manager, bar manager, food service, etc. And, as you point out, he is fully qualified to take over for the captain to oversee the actual running of the ship.

 

I would imagine it's just like the airlines. You have a pilot and a co-pilot ... sometimes even more staff for the larger airplanes. A cruise ship too would need to have some duplication in their critical departments just in case one would have to step in for another.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[spaceguy]

Don't forget too that senior officers rotate in and out every 3 months or so. Thus there are several "Captains" on the ship or assigned to the ship.

[caviargal]

The way I understand it as that the staff captain is in charge of the ship's hotel departments. He's the overall point of oversight for the hotel manager, bar manager, food service, etc. And, as you point out, he is fully qualified to take over for the captain to oversee the actual running of the ship.

 

I would imagine it's just like the airlines. You have a pilot and a co-pilot ... sometimes even more staff for the larger airplanes. A cruise ship too would need to have some duplication in their critical departments just in case one would have to step in for another.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

This is not correct. The Hotel Director is in charge of all non-engineering aspects of the ship. They do not have navigational credentials.

[Capt_BJ]

I'm not a laywer ... but a student of the sea.

 

Technically, what one commonly refers to at the Captain of a merchant vessel is legally the Master. In order to be the Master of a vessel one must hold an approriate Master's License. Typically every 'officer' on the vessel will hold a Master's License, but only one person will be officially the ship's Master.

 

The Master, who is refered to as The Captain, is the person legally in charge. Now a cruise line can call anyone they want Captain....for navigation and certain legal issues the Master is the one that counts. In certain law enforcement situations, a government asks to speak to the vessel master - this is the generally accepted international term.

 

This certainly can get confusing even in the US military structure where the 'skipper' or 'old man' is always called Captain, but may or may not hold the rank that also uses that title! Within Naval and Coast Guard regulations, the term is Commanding Officer, if the individual is a commisioned officer, and Officer in Charge if the individual is a non-commisioned officer. Masters of Army vessels - yes the Army has ships - carry commercial Master's licenses, as to MSC, Military SeaLift, vessels; but the boss is still called the Captain!

 

Last commercial ride I went on, the Master wore what I would call admiral shoulder boards and every Department Head had the 4 stripes I'd associate with Captain having expanded from Captain and Staff Captain to include the engineer captain, the hotel captain etc etc. Some subset of who may have held Masters licenses

 

:rolleyes:

[arnieslady]

Hello!

 

My husband swears that there are two captains on every ship. One captain who really runs the ship and the other captain, who looks like he is from central casting, and who is the greeter at the formal dinners, frequent cruiser parties, etc. Does anyone have the lowdown on this? I have a dinner bet on this.

 

Thanks!

 

Don't know how technical you're going to be....Captain/Staff Captain???....looks like you might be buying the dinner. :mad: