Risk in the Essex Voyage - Case Study Example

Introduction The Essex was an American Whale Ship that was assailed by a Sperm Whale and sunk in the year 1820, however whales attacking ships was a mysterious happening. Previously Essex was known for many successful voyages and was often considered a lucky vessel and among the crew were men with an appreciable reputation. The ship was considerably large but its size still did not suit a whale ship but it still had success. It also had four whaleboats that were instigate from the ship and they had good speed but were not durable. Two days after setting off it was hit by a squall that nearly sunk her but also destroyed three of the whaleboats. The crew decided to continue for five weeks without stopping to do repairs and searched for warm waters. The encountered other whalers who told them about a newly discovered a good hunting ground located about four thousand six hundred kilometers to the southwest. The area was risky because it was too far and the inhabitants of the Islands were said to be cannibals. They went thousands into the coast of South America and but a number of days whaleboats were empty despite the whale damaging their boat by surfacing directly below I. Three whaleboats began to pursue a sperm whale but as they tried to harpoon it its fluke hit the boat and damaged its seam, which forced them to cut the line from the whale to put back the boat into the ship for repair. The second boat has also harpooned a whale that was pulling the way. As the work of repaired continued an abnormally larger whale was seen behaving strangely. It lay without any movement and its head was facing the ship and it began to speedily approach the ship diving. The whale hit the ship with its head, went under it, and battered it tipping it to move from side to side. It continued to the starboard side of the ship and lay motionless but the crew could not kill it because it was too close to the rudder and could cause the ship intense damage. The whale was seen swimming ahead of the ship but came back in furry and speed and thrashed it with its tail and its head struck the ship again. The whale crushed the bow and pushed the ship backwards and the whale them swarm away and were never seen again. The ship began to sink slowly and the crew had only whaleboats for survival. The captain gathered navigational instruments but he could do much and was terrified. The ship took two days to sink, during which the crew tried to salvage their supplies. The twenty men set off in three small boats with inadequate food and fresh water to seek refuge in the closest Island about one thousand nine hundred kilometers, despite the fear of the captain that the inhabitants of the Island are cannibal. They were unable to succeed against the trade winds and reaching their desired shore which lay about four thousand eight hundred kilometers away made some crew members quail and the crew began to die of thirst. They rest managed to reach an Island from which they got a little fresh water , fish and vegetation, but after a week everything in the Island could no longer support them, so they decided to leave the Island to avoid starvation in future. Three men decided to stay on the Island as the crew recommence their voyage. Within 3 days, they ran out of the supplies they had just replenished and once the small bread reserve was over, the men began to die one by one. The men in boats went in different directions but the first men who died were buried at sea according to the custom. However, at some point, the crew decided to keep a body of one of them who died, but they decided to become cannibals to survive. The last three men were finally saved by another whale ship after 90 days after the sinking of Essex. Risk in the Essex Voyage. Risk is any uncertainty that may prevail in any situation about which a decision has to be made whose outcome is unknown because there is not information about what would occur. The Captain and the crew had a number of risks from the time they set sail to the land in all situations that they encountered at sea. The first obvious risk was that Essex was smaller than the normal whale ship but it had recorded success for a long time until they believed that it was a lucky vessel. They also faced the risk of finding to whales and to overcome this they needed to travel many kilometers into the sea to find good hunting grounds. The main decision to go into the new hunting that they had just been told about by other whalers was based on the trust of other hunters. This they justified by the fact that they has their supplies in the ship which would sustain them until they could return with huge success. The most important risk is that which has a bearing on the business because it deals with the core interest of any undertaking. The most important risk of the crew was to discover the best hunting ground from which they get whales. They seem willing to do everything to realize their destination. This made them travel for many months, with some boats in poor condition in order to achieve their goal of getting the whales. They were however not successful because even upon reaching the hunting region they failed to get whales for some time. The most important risk is therefore one that is capable of producing the best rewards in any undertaking. This made the crew avoid the fear that of the inhabitants of the Islands in the region who were said to be cannibals. The other risks that were avoided include the risk of hunting in the normal place that would mean having the chance of succeeding depending on chance and or failing to get any whales because the whales may have been depleted. This risk could not be worth taking because it means lack of success in the whaling business. Risk analysis of the Topic, The Attack The general guidelines to managing any risk includes risk assessment, in order to decide on the most appropriate risk management strategy. The approaches of managing risk include risk avoidance, risk reduction and gradual taking of the risk. These are undertaken to ensure that the risk does not overwhelm the individuals who are responsible for managing the risk. The risk manager is entrusted to assess the situation and to give all the parties involved a direction to be followed. The captain of the ship was the one responsible for all the risks that the crew faced, since the ship is one of the main assts of the whaling company. The decision to harpoon the abnormally big whale, which was approaching the ship that ended up smashing the ship, was a risk that was underestimated in the hunting process. This caused great loss to the ship owners and the crew. They went thousands of kilometers into the coast of South America and but a number of days whaleboats were empty until a strange a whale appeared. Three whaleboats began to pursue a sperm whale but as they tried to harpoon it its fluke hit the boat and damaged its seam, which forced them to cut the line from the whale to put back the boat into the ship for repair. The second boat has also harpooned a whale that was pulling the way. As the work of repaired continued an abnormally larger whale was seen behaving strangely. It lay without any movement and its head was facing the ship and it began to speedily approach the ship diving. The whale hit the ship with its head, went under it, and battered it tipping it to move from side to side. It continued to the starboard side of the ship and lay motionless but the crew could not kill it because it was too close to the rudder and could cause the ship intense damage. The crew knew the kind of risk they were taking and their minds were filled with unimaginable dangers. They also knew the danger and risk of whaling but the profession was one of great ambition (Philbrick 99). However, the day they met the accident was to them a perfect bright day to hunt the whales who did not know they were being pursued and the crew were anxiously expecting a whale to surface. They never expected that a whale could have premeditated an attack against them (Philbrick 99) but once it occurred, Chase decided to risk damaging the rudder, and he wanted to ensure that the delicate steering device was not smashed. They knew that whales are adapted to head on collisions and soon it was too late to change course. After the collision, they tried to mitigate the loss by trying to retrieve their stored supplies from the sinking ship, plus other navigational equipment. Their strategy of managing risk failed because the captain and the crew did not foresee the risk of pursuing the unusually larger whale. This is an indication that their years of experience did not predispose them to have better judgment that they large whale was dangerous to the Essex. This erroneous judgment of the potential of damage gave them their worst experience. Conclusion Management is the process of integrating the different activities in a way that make the outcome of any situation better than for all the parties involved. The situation that Essex faced and how the Captain and the crew handled the whale hunting was meant to create greater rewards of their undertaking. This made them venture into unfamiliar hunting territories, which is a common feature of management. Most management decisions are made based on assumptions and with little or inadequate information. The outcome of the decisions being made cannot be foreseen until after a number of actions and decisions have been taken. The crew however endeavored to reduce the impact of the loss that had become imminent. The crew tried to ensure that their supplies were salvaged, and once in the whaleboats, they placed them where they could not become wet. The crew made desperate risk reduction strategies to save everyone’s life but nature made it impossible for some of the crew. Works Cited Bernadin, Guy. Sailing Around the World; A family Retraces Slocum’s Voyage. New York: Sheridan House. 2002. Cacutt, Len. Big-Game Fishing. New York: Stackpole Books. 2000. Hopkin, Paul. Fundamentals of Risk Management: Understanding, Evaluation and Implementation. Kogan Page Limited. 2010. Pp. 11-17. Hook Sue Vander. Deep-Sea Fishing. Black Rabbit Books. 2004. U. S. A. Hubbard, Douglas w. 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