There is but one God that is Lord over the earth, and one captain that is lord over the Pequod

From Into the Raging Sea by Rachel Slade. Page 121.

Davidson was in a fragile state of mind, broken. He was disgusted that at age fifty-three, another job was slipping away.

Chief Mate Steve Shultz was worried about his future too, but at the moment felt compelled to focus on the fact that they were playing chicken with a major storm. The NHC reports had become unequivocal—Joaquin and El Faro were on a collision course. He had to say something.

In industries in which human error can lead to devastating consequences, it’s important to foster good communication that respects the hierarchy while allowing room for debate. In the emergency room, nurses and doctors are trained to work together to make critical decisions about patient care. The commercial airline industry has developed standardized training procedures designed to encourage pilots and copilots to collaborate while in the cockpit. All military branches have checklists and protocols to help people work together to determine risk and check each other’s work. No one makes decisions in a vacuum.

The US merchant marine is different. Few succeed in the shipping by questioning authority. Fresh out of school, cadets are no better than servants; they do what they’re told. They might have to scrub and squeegee the cavernous holds of an oil tanker while choking on the fumes or fetch someone’s coffee while the ship rocks and rolls. A third mate “never forgets that he’s at the bottom of the heap, nothing more than a pair of eyes watching the sea and a pair of hands to assist the other officers. Second mates have the whiff of authority about them, but like the middle child, they’re forever caught between giving commands and taking them. Even chief mates wait respectfully outside the captain’s cabin until they’re invited in.
On a ship, the captain reigns supreme. The final word. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed since Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick in 1851.

“Dost thou then so much as dare to critically think of me?” cried Captain Ahab to his chief mate, Starbuck. “There is but one God that is Lord over the earth, and one captain that is lord over the Pequod.”

Some masters solicit the opinions of their mates and actively encourage their officers to think for themselves. They’re the teachers and mentors of the merchant marine committed to making their officers better mariners.

Captain Davidson had a dangerous swagger that belied a fragile ego. He jealously guarded his power and wrapped his authority around his heart like a shield.

All true and all a known issue. It is a known problem with known solutions. Back in the 1980s and 1990s there were a series of airline crashes in Asia which were attributable to cockpit human error. Apparently in Sinotic cultures, deference to hierarchy is extremely powerful. Co-pilots and even ground crew deferred to the pilot even on issues they knew to represent danger. I believe both Japan Airlines and Korean Air ended up launching structured culture change programs to tackle the human behavior issue head on. One of those soft "human" issues which, if you don't pay attention, can crash your spreadsheet. It is a choice to address or ignore.