The difficulty of "authorized" was that a captain at sea should have full control to make safe navigational decisions without corporate, profit-minded authorization. Captain Mike's previous experience insinuated that a captain could override company orders but could expect to be quietly let go soon after.
Seems safe to assume those two tugboats cost a hell of a lot less than this accident and the wrongful death suits, not to mention the unnecessary fatalities.
Yeah, the trouble is though.. the tugboats got paid for and the steering gear didn't fail as it wasn't used.
Same here, he goes a different way and costs the company money and all of a sudden its not comparing the cost of the diversion with the cost of the loss of the ship and crew, its only comparing it to a safe but tense voyage.
