Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2020)

Back to the Drawing Board

Engineering Ethics, Seaworthiness and

The Right of Clients to Kill Themselves had only been working as a graduate engi- ably safe? I have since spent more time thinking about that neer for a few years and was minding my and realize now that reasonably safe is a complicated issue own business working for a yacht designer and depends on who uses the object. In this case there was an when my boss asked me to get in touch adventurer who only was putting himself and his volunteer

I with a person who was looking for engi- crew at risk (there was a crew of four total) and I had clearly neering analysis. conveyed that I could not make his trip safe, I could only

I called the number and arranged for the make it safer, but that is pretty good by itself.

person to meet me at the of? ce. Next, I took a closer look at the Code and concluded that

A few days later a tall very athletic man walked up the stairs the ethics contract is not so much between the Engineer and and introduced himself as Ned Gillette. He unfolded a draw- the Client, but rather between the Engineer and the Public. ing with a design for a rowboat, and said he intended to use it The central issue in an Engineer’s Code of Ethics is to protect for a row from South America to Antarctica. the Public. As such, if an individual wants to face death in

I was young, but suf? ciently surprised to answer some- Drake Passage, that by itself, does not violate the Code of where along the lines of: “And you are obviously suicidal.” Ethics. Having said that, there can be a moment, when death “Far from it”, Ned replied, “I want to stay alive and need or injury occurs, that a wife or child will sue the engineer. somebody to do some analysis on this design. We expect the Even in my youthful innocence I sensed that, because in the boat will capsize a couple of times and we have inverted the recommendation I clearly wrote that the trip would be very boat and know it will come back, but we need an engineer to dangerous and all I could do was possibly make it a little take a closer look to make sure we are not missing anything. safer. Maybe not a perfect defense, but at least a decent one.

Your boss told me you might want to do it because it is so At that time, I was also contacted by single handed ocean interesting.” racers, and weirdly I shied away from getting involved in the “Wait a minute, my boss gave it to me because he is not design of single-handed racers. I now know what my gut was charging me for this work? So I am supposed to help you kill telling me; single handed ocean racing involves a different yourself in Drake Passage for free?” type of risk and involves the public safety. While a single “Well”, Ned said, “I make my living doing adventures like handed ocean racer should be free to kill himself, they engage this. I don’t have any money, but I am a rep for the Northface in a different type of unseaworthiness. The single handed rac- and I am sure I can comp you for some nice camping gear.” er cannot stay awake at all times and therefore these vessels

I did need a new tent and I was suf? ciently interested to operate without a proper watch for much of the time. As such, dive in. I ? red up the IBM XT hydro software and managed they could be a signi? cant factor in a collision with a more to wrap my head around inverted stability with loose objects innocent vessel. (All vessels should keep proper lookouts, and people in the cabin and other people possibly ? oating on but sometimes a vessel becomes disabled and the maritime the outside trying to right the boat, or simply wash away and adventure then counts on the other vessel to avoid collisions) die from hypothermia and prepared a risk analysis and had A single handed vessel is intentionally unseaworthy and the some suggestions. designer would be complicit in creating it. Moreover, single

Ned was very pleased with the suggestions and supplied me handed racers are quite likely to be disabled and that puts with a top of the line tent and left. I actually never saw the the worldwide sea rescue services at risk in trying to recover boat, and never saw Ned again. these single handers. Putting these rescuers at risk due to a

Soon thereafter I ran into the Engineering Code of Ethics. It failure of a seaworthy vessel is a risk we all share, but to put was new to me, but I realized that possibly I had violated the them at risk for the bene? t of an intentionally designed un-

Code because I had actually worked on the design of some- seaworthy vessel is wrong. thing that was really dangerous. I was not yet licensed, but it One can go deeper down the rabbit hole and ask if Ned Gil- gave me pause for thought. lette may not have put rescue services at higher risk too. In

There were two issues that worried me. First, should I have theory that could be true, but in those days in Drake Passage refused to do the work because I could not make it reason- even calling a rescue service is quite long odds, them coming 14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2020

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