After the great feedback from the story I shared previously, I thought it might be nice to share some more insights.

Working for a company with a lot of Italian customers and colleagues, it is a smart decisions to time any vacation wisely. For me this was always the week of Ferragosto (Feast of Assumption), where all Italian shipyards closed at that time, meaning it was the perfect time to visits friends in Tuscany and enjoy an undisturbed holiday. Unfortunately that doesn’t always work out as originally planned.

Mid-week (of Ferragosto) I got a call off a management company, with an urgent request that I come visit a boat immediately!. At that time we (IDEA) were a lot smaller and it was my responsibility to attend. Getting such a phone call sent my mind into overdrive, with 1000’s of different thing to think of; “where is the vessel?”, “when do I have to be there?” and even more importantly – “How do I explain to my girlfriend that the uninterrupted holiday I had promised her, had now been interrupted”

So my polite response was. “I am currently on holiday with my spouse and we are travelling by car through Tuscany. I am not sure if I can make it this week”.

“That’s perfect” was the answer, “the boat is in La Spezia anyway”. Wondering what kind of shipyard opens the week of Ferragosto and being completely surprised that it would be on our way back I promised to be there Mid-day on Friday.

Attending the shipyard in my cargo pants and Flip-flops, I gave the company representative a call at the yards gates, and he came to meet me.

Long story short: The vessel had a load line (99% indication for a commercial registered vessel) and no records of planned maintenance, while the former engineer could not answer any questions about non-conformities and procedures when questioned by the PSC; after the vessel entered the harbour un-announced.

The owner’s trip had a quite an un-happy ending as the vessel was detained. Safe to say Management & Crew were replaced and our business partner took over.

It is sometimes just a minor oversight, which leads to much larger and more complicated endings, but a reliable ISM system such as offered in IDEA Yacht along with the relevant training would have prevented this outcome for the Management, Crew and Owner.

All the best!
Tobias