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Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

bbc.com

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Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#11

Post by gambiting »

em-bee wrote: post #7
oytis wrote: post #4

That's pretty bad, but who was the real captain? It's the first time I see total silence about the crew in official sources. At least it is mentioned in some reputable sources (e.g. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/04/01/suez-can... ) that the crew was Indian, but still not a single name.

as i understand it, while ships go through the canal, they are accompanied by a local guide who i believe takes over control of the ship. so even if this was human error, it's not likely that the actual captain was responsible. but i can also imagine that a guide, while familiar with the local conditions was less familiar with the ship itself, a ship that large, which has a different response time than smaller ships.…

The ship had a blackout, so not sure what could be done to avoid grounding it. Ultimately the captain is responsible for the technical state of the ship.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#12

Post by datavirtue »

oytis wrote: post #4

That's pretty bad, but who was the real captain? It's the first time I see total silence about the crew in official sources. At least it is mentioned in some reputable sources (e.g. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/04/01/suez-can... ) that the crew was Indian, but still not a single name.

Right, and no mention of the poor donkey that was attached to the ship. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills whenever I read the news these days.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#13

Post by supergirl »

capableweb wrote: post #6
hnbad wrote: post #3

Well, that was probably predictable. If the news coverage of her being the "first female ship's captain" happened near the same time as the Suez Canal incident, those two stories can easily be conflated into a "told you so" narrative to justify condescension towards women aspiring to be ship's captains. It doesn't matter whether the correlation is real because the narrative feeds into existing stereotypes and anyone…

Or, is just a "fun" joke that ties into stereotypes. "Haha, told you women couldn't drive, look at this one stopping global trade" and then it spirals out of control. Not sure we can or should read too much into it.

it would be funny if it wasn't sad that women are so far behind that a woman ship captain is news.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#14

Post by algorias »

em-bee wrote: post #7
oytis wrote: post #4

That's pretty bad, but who was the real captain? It's the first time I see total silence about the crew in official sources. At least it is mentioned in some reputable sources (e.g. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/04/01/suez-can... ) that the crew was Indian, but still not a single name.

as i understand it, while ships go through the canal, they are accompanied by a local guide who i believe takes over control of the ship. so even if this was human error, it's not likely that the actual captain was responsible. but i can also imagine that a guide, while familiar with the local conditions was less familiar with the ship itself, a ship that large, which has a different response time than smaller ships.…

You are correct, this "guide" is called a pilot, and exists for every port and canal.

However, you're wrong about ship size being a problem. A suez canal pilot is guaranteed to be very familiar with container ships of the suezmax size, specially considering that to become a pilot, you have to have been a captain yourself.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#16

Post by capableweb »

supergirl wrote: post #13
capableweb wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, is just a "fun" joke that ties into stereotypes. "Haha, told you women couldn't drive, look at this one stopping global trade" and then it spirals out of control. Not sure we can or should read too much into it.

it would be funny if it wasn't sad that women are so far behind that a woman ship captain is news.

Personally don't think it's "funny" either way, as joking about stereotypes is generally not very clever humor. But to each his own.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#17

Post by em-bee »

macspoofing wrote: post #9
em-bee wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as i understand it, while ships go through the canal, they are accompanied by a local guide who i believe takes over control of the ship. so even if this was human error, it's not likely that the actual captain was responsible. but i can also imagine that a guide, while familiar with the local conditions was less familiar with the ship itself, a ship that large, which has a different response time than smaller ships.…

>it's not likely that the actual captain was responsible. It'll be interesting how it plays out, but the captain is ultimately responsible and can overrule the 'guide'. So the captain is not off the hook here.

good point. but when it comes to slow reaction times, if the guide is giving the wrong order, by the time the captain can counteract that it may be to late.

but you are right. we'll just have to wait until we know more about what really happened

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#18

Post by moron4hire »

capableweb wrote: post #6
hnbad wrote: post #3

Well, that was probably predictable. If the news coverage of her being the "first female ship's captain" happened near the same time as the Suez Canal incident, those two stories can easily be conflated into a "told you so" narrative to justify condescension towards women aspiring to be ship's captains. It doesn't matter whether the correlation is real because the narrative feeds into existing stereotypes and anyone…

Or, is just a "fun" joke that ties into stereotypes. "Haha, told you women couldn't drive, look at this one stopping global trade" and then it spirals out of control. Not sure we can or should read too much into it.

She wasn't even on the Ever Given when it grounded. She was commanding a different ship.

Re: Marwa Elselehdar: 'I was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal'

#19

Post by yostrovs »

supergirl wrote: post #13
capableweb wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, is just a "fun" joke that ties into stereotypes. "Haha, told you women couldn't drive, look at this one stopping global trade" and then it spirals out of control. Not sure we can or should read too much into it.

it would be funny if it wasn't sad that women are so far behind that a woman ship captain is news.

If lack of female ship captains is a sign that women are far behind, is lack of male school teachers, nurses, and HR professionals a sign that men are far behind?
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