Octantis just did a 2 hour cruise to nowhere

[Oh2Bcruisin]

I’ve been following the Octantis using Panamax and MarineTraffic and noticed they just did a 2 hour cruise to nowhere out of Milwaukee. Does anyone know why?

 

[Oh2Bcruisin]

It turns out that a crew member failed to make it to the ship before departure. Here’s a link to the story…

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2022/05/09/transportation-cruise-ship-leaves-milwaukee-twice/

 

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Oh2Bcruisin said:

It turns out that a crew member failed to make it to the ship before departure. Here’s a link to the story…

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2022/05/09/transportation-cruise-ship-leaves-milwaukee-twice/

 

 

Couldn't read the article, but have to wonder how the system failed to identify that all crew were not back onboard. Did they not scan the card properly upon departing?

[Donaghadee]

Now it looks like something went haywire with the Alpena stop.  See cruisemapper.com

for the track.

[ericosmith]

12 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Couldn't read the article, but have to wonder how the system failed to identify that all crew were not back onboard. Did they not scan the card properly upon departing?

The ship arrived in Milwaukee mid-day Friday to great fanfare. And as part of the city’s role as a turn-around port, it was scheduled to leave Sunday with a new set of passengers. Early Sunday afternoon the ship was pulling out of the port of Milwaukee en route to Mackinac, Michigan.

 

But after making it to a point as far north as Mequon, the 666-foot-long Octantis turned around and headed back into Milwaukee’s port. The ship is scheduled to return to Milwaukee nine times this year, but with weeks, not hours, between each trip.

 

“On May 8th U.S. Customs and Border Protection was notified by Viking Cruise Lines that a crewmember failed to report to the vessel for departure. No further details are available,” said a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.

[oakridger]

The security scanning is a big question but also, I can't imagine that any crew member would rate going back for other than the Captain or the Doctor!!

 

What do you think @Heidi13?

 

~Nancy

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, oakridger said:

The security scanning is a big question but also, I can't imagine that any crew member would rate going back for other than the Captain or the Doctor!!

 

What do you think @Heidi13?

 

~Nancy

 

Based on the post above, it looks like Viking was aware the crew member was a no show and had made the required report to the US authorities. 

 

Shipping companies can be heavily fined when crew members "Jump ship" by not returning from shore leave. Only being an hour out, returning to pick up the crew member could have saved some admin issues/fines, but unfortunately I don't know the US Regs as well as the Canadian ones.

 

Hopefully the Chief can advise.

@chengkp75

[Torquato]

Maybe it had to do with The Jones Act?

[Jim Avery]

43 minutes ago, Torquato said:

Maybe it had to do with The Jones Act?

Jones Act covers cargo vessels so not likely.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Jones Act covers cargo vessels so not likely.

 

2 hours ago, Torquato said:

Maybe it had to do with The Jones Act?

And it also wasn't due to the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which is the coastwise law that governs the transportation of people because as the title of the law says it governs the transportation of passengers, and a working member of the crew is not a passenger.

[Twitchly]

I thought perhaps the crew member was new and didn’t make it to the ship in time. No idea where I got that impression, though.

[Cienfuegos]

It's interesting the cruise line can be fined for an employee not returning to ship. I was not aware of that.

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

It's interesting the cruise line can be fined for an employee not returning to ship. I was not aware of that.

Foreign crew entering the US do so on a D visa or a C1/D visa.  A D visa is for a crew member (ship or plane), and does not allow them to stay in the US if the ship/plane leaves.  A C1/D visa is a combination visa that allows the crew member to "transit" the US, either joining or leaving a foreign ship/plane to travel to/from home.  Both types of visa require an "assignment letter" from the employer showing what ship/plane the crew member is assigned to, and acknowledging that the company is liable for all expenses related to the crew member's time in the US.  As an example, if a crew member is leaving a ship, and cannot get a flight out that same day, the company puts them up in a hotel at the company's expense.  Now, say the crew goes out on a bender, and comes back and trashes the room.  The company, not the crew member, is liable for the expenses.  So, if a crew member is left behind in a port, the company will get fined for violating that crew member's visa conditions, and will be responsible for transiting the crew member on to the next port, or repatriating them home.  And, the company will be liable for a 24 hours security guard on the crew member to ensure the crew member does not leave the hotel room, and is escorted to the plane.  After that, depending on the collective bargaining agreement, or the employment contract, whether the company can recover those costs from the crew member is variable.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Foreign crew entering the US do so on a D visa or a C1/D visa.  A D visa is for a crew member (ship or plane), and does not allow them to stay in the US if the ship/plane leaves.  A C1/D visa is a combination visa that allows the crew member to "transit" the US, either joining or leaving a foreign ship/plane to travel to/from home.  Both types of visa require an "assignment letter" from the employer showing what ship/plane the crew member is assigned to, and acknowledging that the company is liable for all expenses related to the crew member's time in the US.  As an example, if a crew member is leaving a ship, and cannot get a flight out that same day, the company puts them up in a hotel at the company's expense.  Now, say the crew goes out on a bender, and comes back and trashes the room.  The company, not the crew member, is liable for the expenses.  So, if a crew member is left behind in a port, the company will get fined for violating that crew member's visa conditions, and will be responsible for transiting the crew member on to the next port, or repatriating them home.  And, the company will be liable for a 24 hours security guard on the crew member to ensure the crew member does not leave the hotel room, and is escorted to the plane.  After that, depending on the collective bargaining agreement, or the employment contract, whether the company can recover those costs from the crew member is variable.

 

Thanks Chief.

[Cienfuegos]

Thanks from me, as well.  Those are stiff penalties.