BE SURE TO FIRST CONSULT WITH A QUALIFIED FINANCIAL ADVISER, TAX PROFESSIONAL, OR ATTORNEY BEFORE IMPLEMENTING ANY STRATEGY OR RECOMMENDATION DISCUSSED HEREIN. Some early newspaper reports, allegedly supported by eyewitnesses, say he had shot himself with a pistol, though few historians give them any credence. Greg Daugherty, alongtime magazine editor and frequent contributor to HISTORY.com, has also written on historical topics for Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and other outlets. Updated: April 12, 2023 | Original: November 12, 2020. Her captain, Yiannis Avranas, and some of the crew were convicted of negligence for fleeing the ship without helping the passengers, who were subsequently rescued thanks to the efforts of the ship's entertainers, who made a mayday transmission, launched lifeboats, and helped South African Marines land on the ship from naval helicopters. is University of Washington a good school. The captain goes down with the ship is a maritime tradition suggesting that a captain is honor-bound to stay on a sinking ship until all passengers and crew members have been safely evacuated. The Oceanos had been on its usual route along the South African coast when it encountered heavy rains and gale-force winds. The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast in 2012, killing 32 people. Italy's highest court has upheld the 16-year jail sentence given to the captain of the Costa Concordia, which capsized in 2012 killing 32 people. On open-circuit scuba, the exhaled breath is not fed back into the system but is expelled and is no longer useable. "His duty as the highest authority available short of God himself was to make sure his crew was safe before he left the ship," says Craig Symonds, a retired Naval Academy historian. On Sunday, the day before the first dive attempt, the gusty southwesterly wind blew. TRY ASKING HOST DOUGhe usually knows those things. She headed into 40-knot (20m/s) winds and 9m (30ft) swells. She came to rest on her starboard side almost perpendicular to the coastline, with her bow facing seaward. He didnt give up on the mystery ship, ordering the crew of at least one lifeboat to row toward the lights, drop off passengers and return to Titanic for more. Many famous naval disasters happen far out at sea, but on January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia wrecked just off the coast of an Italian island in relatively shallow water. Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? Reinforced when Capt. Within eight minutes I closed the waterproof doors. In his characteristic style, he managed to weave a comical moment into his narrative of the tumultuous events, telling reporters that he had started singing "Bye Bye Miss American Pie", when he suddenly realised that the next line was going to be "Thisll be the day that I die" - and quickly switched to another song[14][15], Hills later said that searching for Captain Avranas, he had discovered him smoking on the fantail and he said "I think he was in deep, deep shock. UK Retailer Simply Scuba Goes Into Administration For Good This Time, Dive Curaao Launches New All-In-One Vacation Platform. The Oceanos lost power following a leak in the engine room's sea chest. All Rights Reserved. In the U.S., case law indicates that a ship's master must be the last person to leave and make all reasonable efforts to save everyone and everything on it. Is there confession in the Armenian Church? The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, slammed into a reef on Friday, after Schettino made an unauthorized maneuver. Very well, Pryal, the man supposedly answered, but please dont detain me. The Italian captain went back onboard the wreck for the first time since the sinking of the cruise ship on January 13, 2012, as part of his trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship. The South African Navy and Air Force launched a massive seven-hour mission in which 16 helicopters were used to airlift the remainder of the passengers and crew to the nearby settlements of The Haven and Hole in the Wall, about 10km south of Coffee Bay. Aug. 6, 1991 12 AM PT. The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse - History What happened to the captain of the Oceanos? - AnswersAll MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Smith also checked in periodically with the wireless operators until, at about 2 a.m., he released them from duty and told them to try to save themselves. The sinking of Oceanos - NBC News The ship was built in France and owned by a Greek cruise ship company. In an interview with the captain, he jokingly remarked that if the ship should sink, he would be on the first lifeboat off the ship. But in interviews, Captain Avranas was unapologetic for leaving the ship ahead of others, saying he was better able to direct rescue efforts from shore. In a matter of minutes, the occupants returned with a very favorable report on conditions. After ramming into the sea floor, the Oceanos slipped silently beneath the waves. By God, you are right! Smith replied. Captains Uncourageous: Abandoning Ship Long Seen As A Crime Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck with the ship's musicians and British . "I'm totally embarrassed by what he did," he said of Schettino. The rescue featured in episode 4 of Shockwave, first aired 21 December 2007. At roughly midnight, Andrews reportedly told Smith the Titanic could last another 60 to 90 minutes. Smith, who evacuated the ship women and children first until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it. Even before the journey started, the ship had already started to wear. In 1976, she was acquired by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and registered under the name of Oceanos.[2]. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He had apparently confused the Titanics partially enclosed promenade deck with the totally open one of her sister ship, Olympic, which he had previously commanded. The unfitted ventilation pipe was said to have left a 10cm hole in the watertight bulkhead between the generator and the sewerage tank. However, an Italian naval admiral testified in court that even though the helmsman was late in executing the captains orders, the crash wouldve happened anyway. (The helmsman was one of the four crew members convicted in court for contributing to the disaster. He speaks five foreign languages, originally from Kasos, but was born in Egypt. "It's a matter of honor that the master is the last to leave. Attaining a maximum depth of 86.4m, the three divers initially made their way North to the stern, where Brett Hawton had time to pose next to the raised Greek lettering, spelling out the name OKEANOZ. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. The divers had penetrated 70m into the wreck with the aid of the scooters. "If you are leader, you have responsibility for your people, they put their lives in your hands.". Maritime law - DW - 01/19/2012 But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding". The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. About 2:00 p.m., the Oceanos begins its vertical descent. "[5] Hills reportedly rescued Avranas' dog and released his canary. [15], Prior to the events of January 1991, Avranas had apparently given no interview to the media. Originally built as a passenger/cargo vessel, the Oceanos underwent massive reconstruction by the time she came to operate as a cruise liner for Epirotiki Lines of Greece. Moving round to the port side propeller, over the hull, and back to the deck amidships, they headed off on their scooters to the bridge and bow sections to make a survey of possible penetration points for the second dive. Industries; War and Militaries; Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mysterywith no shortage of conflicting accounts. Steen Brodersen, a retired Danish captain, said that every single crew member, from the chief mate to the cooks, has a designated role in an emergency on a cruise ship. I saw Captain Smith getting excited; passengers would not have noticed, but I did, May Sloan, a surviving Titanic stewardess, wrote in a letter shortly after the disaster. In an account attributed to Titanic fireman Harry Senior, Smith jumped off the ship with an infant clutched tenderly in his arms, swam to a nearby lifeboat, handed off the child and swam back toward the Titanic, saying, I will follow the ship.. Schettino also didnt immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. Arriving at the dive site, the team was amazed by the conditions. Unfortunately, conditions did not live up to expectations. The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. Sometimes we were almost horizontal going down. When they bail early, everything falls apart. WATCH: Full episodes of When Big Things Go Wrong online now. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. After Capt. STOCKHOLM - Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. Brett was on twin set 36-litre open circuit back-gas, with two 12-liter side-mounted cylinders. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. The captain of the Oceanos was an experienced seaman Yiannis Avranas, who had been sailing the oceans for 30 years, including 20 years as an officer. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. "Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. The success of the 1988 cruise season in South Africa was the motivation for her return in 1991 on an eight-month charter for TFC Tours of Johannesburg. The first engineer along with some of the engine room got on a boat and left. Technicians pass in a small boat near the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia lying aground in front of the Isola del Giglio on January 26, 2012 after hitting underwater rocks on January 13.  Former captain of the Costa Concordia Francesco Schettino speaks with reporters after being aboard the ship with the team of experts inspecting the wreck on February 27, 2014 in Isola del Giglio, Italy. The ship they spotted in the distance didnt answer, but several others did. This page is not available in other languages. In addition to Schettino, Ferrarini and Rusli Bin, the other people who received convictions for their role in the disaster were Cabin Service Director Manrico Giampedroni, First Officer Ciro Ambrosio and Third Officer Silvia Coronica. One of the most famous involved the HMS Birkenhead, which wrecked off the coast of South Africa in 1852 while transporting British troops to war. The ship underwent several name changes, including Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess, and finally, in 1976, under the ownership of Pontos Nav SA, she was registered in Piraeus, Greece, under the name of SS Oceanos. This day turned out much better than expected. Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship? The sinking is the subject of a song called "Oceanos" by Celtic rock band Coast. This is an amazing story -- if they're doing a new story maybe something new has happened -- like maybe the captain will finally be . [22] The show Extreme Weather: The Survivors featured a segment on the sinking. In 2022, Moss Hills who later became a cruise director was interviewed by Jane Garvey for BBC Radio 4's series Life Changing. I just watched national geografic program about the Oceanos tragedy. The ocean had reached the point where the sea was 81 meters deep. Yiannis Avranas (born ca. "It is not just unseemly for a captain to leave a ship," Shealy says. What should I say to the media? To the port authorities I have said that we hada blackout. (Ferrarini was later convicted for contributing to the disaster by delaying rescue operations.). Follow her on Twitter at @MsBeckyLittle. [16][11][17][18] He stated that he left the ship first to arrange for a rescue effort, and then supervised the rescue from a helicopter because "the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft". None of the 571 passengers drowned. What Was the Titanics Captain Doing While the Ship Sank. http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/08/21/crew-bails-on-passengers-of-sinking-cruise-liner/. Creating equal decompression profiles for the two systems was a difficult task for Barry that took many hours of calculation. He didnt give up though. One of the divers, Karl van der Merwe, commented, The current was so strong that it would rip your mask off your face and your regulator out of your mouth. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they witnessed the first signs of flooding in the lower decks. [5], No alarm or announcement had been given that the ship was in trouble; with other entertainers working on the cruise, Moss Hills a musician from Zimbabwe and former member of Four Jacks and a Jill who had been performing with his wife Tracy in the lounge, explored below decks, discovered that Oceanos appeared to be sinking, and were informed by the cruise director, Lorraine Betts, that the captain had given the order to abandon ship and some crew had already left in a lifeboat. ", the captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia. Gas exchanges with backup divers at set points during the ascent worked flawlessly, and the divers surfaced on schedule without incident. Cowardice comes in many forms, but there's a special sense of shame reserved for captains who abandon ship. International standards for sea captains vary. The Story Of The Oceanos - YouTube Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. We were preparing to eat when the first mechanic warned us. In 1991, Capt. It was also around 12:45 a.m. that crewmen lowered the first of the Titanics lifeboats to the ocean surface. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about the sinking, titled The Oceanos Tragedy. But whatever the reason for getting too close, the Italian courts found the captain, four crew members and one official from the ships company, Costa Crociere (part of Carnival Corporation), to be at fault for causing the disaster and preventing a safe evacuation.