what happened to the captain of the oceanos
By Philip G Van Rensburg. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The most famous, perhaps, is the captain of the Titanic, E.J. 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. I would avoid any cruise that involves a Greek ship! She came to rest on her starboard side almost perpendicular to the coastline, with her bow facing seaward. The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. The wind was still blowing, and large swells were visible on the horizon. The lights went out and the ship got an unusual inclination, but none of the crew advised us, he says in telephone communication from Ireland. Making things worse, the crew had dropped the anchor incorrectly, causing the ship to flop over even more dramatically. The 402 passengers and 179 crew members all survived, but Captain Yiannis Avranas and other officers left the ship while some passengers were still on board. Passengers thought the captain had left the ship. Everyone who had been put into lifeboats was rescued by passing ships and remarkably no lives were lost. The sinking is the subject of a song called "Oceanos" by Celtic rock band Coast. Life seems to have been unaware that immediately after Silent Smiths death in 1915, the Lima News had identified the man as one Michael McKenna. After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Unbelievable but true - an account of the terrifying conditions on the OCEANOS on 4 August 1991 when it became obvious that not only was the position of the ship unknown, but the whereabouts of the captain and some crew as well. The chief engineer reported to Captain Avranas that water was entering the hull and flooding the generator room. [2] Photographs taken in 2002 show that the bridge section has collapsed. Pryal was no ordinary crank, but a highly regarded local businessman who claimed to have been an officer aboard the White Star liner Majestic some 30 years before, when Smith was its captain. Blowing in the same direction as the current, a strong northeasterly wind would slowly increase the rate of flow beyond that conducive for diving. When they bail early, everything falls apart. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. 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. South Korean authorities have arrested Capt. He was 46 years old. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. A South African navy diver said the captain of the sunken Greek liner Oceanos pushed past elderly pa. [6] When the ship's worsening list to starboard made it unsafe to continue, Hills and several passengers went to the bridge to look for the crew, but found it unmanned. In 2015, a court found Schettino guilty of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship before passengers and crew were evacuated and lying to authorities about the disaster. Meanwhile, he told the ships two wireless operators to get ready to transmit distress signals. The Oceanos thrust her stern into the air and slid nose first into the sea. [3] He was quoted soon after the sinking as saying, "When I order abandon the ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. / Updated May 22, 2010 / 12:42 PM PDT 20 PHOTOS . Employer. The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunctionit was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors. Regular drills ensure everyone knows what to do. How does the braking system work in a car? [citation needed], While trying to make up lost time, Oceanos encountered rough seas. As soon as we reached seven degrees, we decided to lower the boats and start evacuation. Very well, Pryal, the man supposedly answered, but please dont detain me. Arriving at the dive site, the team was amazed by the conditions. . The Oceanos had been on its usual route along the South African coast when it encountered heavy rains and gale-force winds. Smith was accused of ignoring ice warnings from other ships and failing to reduce the ships speed to fit the conditions at hand. He remains incarcerated in a prison just outside of Rome, where he is expected to stay until he is around 80 years old. [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". What happened to the captain of the Oceanos ship? Those who did earned instant infamy, like the captain of the Greek luxury liner Oceanos, which sank in rough seas off South Africa in 1991. Smith was back in the news in 1940, when a letter in Life magazine suggested that the captain had ended his days as an elderly derelict in Lima, Ohio, known as Silent Smith. Among the evidence: The man had arrived in town three years after the Titanic disaster, would only give his name as Smith, was about Smiths age and size, and bore the sort of tattoos common among seafarers. "[9] They were among the last to be rescued. But his or her responsibility extends to executing the evacuation plan that all passenger ships are required to have and practice. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images EAST LONDON, South Africa . Chopper pilot, Ian Osborne, lifted his Alouette helicopter into the air en route to the wreck site. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. that after a series of freak waves slammed against the ship, the pipe's shell plating burst open and began filling the compartment with seawater. He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. Several witnesses claimed to have seen him in the water. The crew said that likely saved their lives, because the ship's emergency beacon didn't work. . Captain of MTS Oceanos. Many scenarios have been done, my brother. 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 Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? 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. When the team arrived at the wreck marker buoys, it was evident that the current was almost non-existent and the wind and swell had all but disappeared. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck portholes. "There must be a point at which I would think that now it is time to jump into the water so I don't die," he said. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. At about 15:30 the following day, the Oceanos could hold her head up no longer and sank. [14] He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. Think of Bligh, or Queeg, or the autocratic captains who drive many of the novels and stories of Herman Melville. An often asked question is what happened to the captain of the oceans at this stage, eyewitness accounts reveal that many of the crew, including Captain Avranias, were already packed and ready to depart, seemingly unconcerned with the safety of the passengers. Everyone on board the cruise ship Oceanos was safe and accounted for Monday, but survivors angrily accused the . The captain of the Oceanos was alerted to the problem after receiving reports of water entering some of the cabins on board. The unethical, unprofessional prick are working as a Captain of a ferry in Greece. All Rights Reserved. According to Boltman, "later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi [sic] even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going. The generators had been shorted, and the supply of power to the engines had been severed. Thomas Andrews, the Titanics head designer, reported that his inspection revealed flooding in at least five of the Titanics 16 watertight compartments. For a villain, there was J. Bruce Ismay, the White Star chairman, who got off in a lifeboat and was accused of pressuring Smith to maintain a reckless speed. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. More than 4,200 people were rescued, though 32 people died. Known for. And the second boat was only cooks. 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. Moss and Tracy, who now live in Liverpool, continued working as cruise ship entertainers for many years. Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. They were taken from the hotel to the airport five minutes before the plane left, otherwise we would still be there judging us , says Nikolaou. ", "Costa Concordia Tragedy: Capt. 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. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. Nearby vessels responded to the ships SOS and were the first to assist. He didnt give up though. That was one of several incidents that have led some historians to question whether Smith had gone into a state of shock. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. ", Report: Captain claims he "tripped" into lifeboat. In August 1991 I was a junior partner in the maritime . After the required decompression runtimes, the divers surfaced, and the team returned to shore. Still hoping to get the attention of the mysterious ship nearby, the captain ordered the firing of distress rockets at 12:45 a.m. At the same time, Boxhall tried to contact it with a signal lamp, flashing a plea for help in Morse code. On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. All considered, said Canadian-American fellow team member and cave diving world record holder Paul Heinerth, the Oceanos is probably one of the most, if not the most difficult wreck in the world to dive. The difficulties of diving on the Oceanos are extreme, but with commitment and proper planning, the dive is not impossible. Use of this site is governed by the User Agreement, Privacy Policy(function(w,d){var loader=function(){var s=d.createElement("script"),tag=d.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];s.src="https://cdn.iubenda.com/iubenda.js";tag.parentNode.insertBefore(s,tag);};if(w.addEventListener){w.addEventListener("load",loader,false);}else if(w.attachEvent){w.attachEvent("onload",loader);}else{w.onload=loader;}})(window,document); and Disclosure Policy. At sea, there's no question about who's in charge, so there's no doubt who is responsible for safety. [1], Oceanos was launched in July 1952 by Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde in Bordeaux, France as Jean Laborde, the last of four sister ships built for Messageries Maritimes. The ships were used on the Marseilles Madagascar Mauritius service. What is glucosamine and fish oil good for? The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. Creating equal decompression profiles for the two systems was a difficult task for Barry that took many hours of calculation. Avranas at the time defended his actions, saying he left the ship to direct rescue operations. [22] The show Extreme Weather: The Survivors featured a segment on the sinking. "You need someone on the ship to communicate with them, to command the people who are on the ship, to help get the passengers off and to guide the rescuers.". Cowardice comes in many forms, but there's a special sense of shame reserved for captains who abandon ship. 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. After that, three preparative dives were conducted, including a complete simulation dive on the Griqualand, which lies at 50m, where gas exchanges and emergency procedures were rehearsed. Christos Nikolaou did not know what was said about him and his colleagues at the time. Captain of White Star Liner, RMS Titanic, Commander Edward J. Smith, c. 1911. A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. The last charge carries a potential sentence of 12 years in prison. At first it appeared as if Smiths luck was going to hold. With hundreds of people on board, the ship springs a leak, then . While the ship could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments, depending on their location, five tipped into catastrophic territory. Epirotiki Line. On the front page was a Kostas Mitropoulos cartoon that lampooned the Captain, it read: Where to take you captain?the helicopter pilot asked him as he rescued him from the sinking ship named Ocean of failures. On 3 August 1991, the Oceanos set out from East London, South Africa and headed to Durban. An In Memoriam vintage postcard featuring the Titanic which sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 14, 1912 and commemorating her captain, Edward Smith and brave bandsmen, published in Redruth, c. May 1912. Evidence introduced in Schettinos trial suggests that the safety of his passengers and crew wasnt his number one priority as he assessed the damage to the Concordia. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members of those missing," Lee told reporters. Allen dismissed that idea, saying the captain's knowledge of his ship is crucial in an emergency. The one who abandoned ship along with his officers and crew and left the entertainers aboard to organize the rescue in August of 1991 off the African coast? The Worst Christmas Story Ever: The Sinking of SS Leopoldville on 24 December 1944, How AI is Transforming Personal and Professional Investing, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, UC Berkeleys Financial Innovation Conference, Why did Titanic Sink : A Scientific Analysis. He is being held in house arrest as prosecutors prepare criminal charges. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about . It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. Powered by Invision Community. BE SURE TO FIRST CONSULT WITH A QUALIFIED FINANCIAL ADVISER, TAX PROFESSIONAL, OR ATTORNEY BEFORE IMPLEMENTING ANY STRATEGY OR RECOMMENDATION DISCUSSED HEREIN. Why did the captain go down with the ship? A more recent example is Robert Royer, the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Alaska in 2010. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. I just watched national geografic program about the Oceanos tragedy. 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. Midday, the sea spills over the bow of Oceanos. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? IIRC his response to being in a life boat was, "he was oraganizing the rescue effort! [9], A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. No matter what time I leave. Francesco Schettino had handed himself in to the Rebibbia prison in Rome after the verdict, his lawyer said. But over 100 people left on board, crew and passengers. Five divers, including the late Rehan Bouwer, made four attempts to reach the Oceanos, but only succeeded twice, and then only for a matter of minutes. [1] Avranas was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. Towards the end, passengers had to jump into . Sailing close to shore to give passengers a nice view or salute other sailors is known as a sail-by, and its unclear how often cruise ships perform these maneuvers. [5], Earlier repairs to the waste disposal system had not been completed, which meant that a vital ventilation pipe which ran through the watertight aft bulkhead and the non-return valves were not replaced. Brodersen, 60, said he never had to deal with that kind of situation, but he has sometimes thought about his own limit, when his survival instinct would trump the hope of salvaging a doomed ship. Bill Wright, senior vice president of Marine Operations for the Royal Caribbean International cruise line. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? Barry and Paul were on closed-circuit rebreathers, a Buddy Inspiration rebreather, and a CIS-Lunar MK5P rebreather, respectively. Having reached the limit of Bretts safe air supply and time underwater, the divers returned to the anchor line to begin their ascent. Within eight minutes I closed the waterproof doors. TRY ASKING HOST DOUGhe usually knows those things. International standards for sea captains vary. About 2:00 p.m., the Oceanos begins its vertical descent. Bubbles moved toward the stern and then back again to amidships. There was no stopping the flooding and no hope for the Oceanos sinking. Smiths body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mystery, with no shortage of conflicting accountsincluding one in which he jumped off the ship holding a baby. [6] Finding the ship's bridge abandoned, Moss Hills, an on-board entertainer, used the radio phone to broadcast a mayday until another ship answered. He speaks five foreign languages, originally from Kasos, but was born in Egypt. By God, you are right! Smith replied. As water gushed into the ship and the three other crew members jumped overboard, Royer stayed in the wheelhouse to make a frantic mayday call and give the ship's position to the Coast Guard. Davina Avrana. In 1991, Yiannis Avranas, the captain of a Greek cruise liner, was also strongly criticised after leaving the ship as it started to sink off the South African coast. "Some people panic, but a short time later they collect their senses and do the right thing," Allen said. By In the time of need, however, the crew found that everything was useless. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. The notorious master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. What happened to the captain of the Costa Concordia? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety? The captain went up to the third of these. 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 . "He deeply regrets not being with his crew. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. We were crazy to do that dive.. The decision was to be his last as captain of the Oceanos. ), READ MORE: Titanic By the Numbers: From Construction to Disaster to Discovery. Francesco Schettino, were charged with various crimes. Schettino reportedly said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. A very small loss of hull integrity caused a storage tank in the lower machine spaces to fill with sea water. The American inquiry was only slightly harsher in its judgment. 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. The first engineer along with some of the engine room got on a boat and left. As author Wyn Craig Wade wrote in The Titanic: End of a Dream, Captain Smith had at least five different deaths, from heroic to ignominious. Rumors of his survival also circulated. [5] The final minutes of her sinking were captured on video and broadcast by ABC News. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos. 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.). Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and of abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. Smith, who evacuated the ship women and children first until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it. From that point on, Smiths activities become more of a blur. [4] The storm worsened, and at approximately 21:30 UTC+2, while off the Wild Coast of the Transkei, a muffled explosion was heard. Captain Yiannis Avranas (born c. 1940) had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. Both literature and real life offer plenty of examples of shipmasters who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect their passengers and crew. "The captain called the men to attention," says William Fowler, a maritime historian at Northeastern University. [9] All 581 people on board were saved. WATCH: Full episodes of When Big Things Go Wrong online now. In the middle of the 19th century, there were a number of incidents in which ships foundered and captains and their crews were either celebrated for leading the rescue or reviled for saving themselves while passengers drowned. I wanted to go down to the deck, where they were left lying on the floor, covered with blankets, passengers and crew members who sang to get courage. Special Section: Italian Cruise DisasterCruise ship to port: It's just a blackoutPressure mounts on cruise ship divers. "If you are leader, you have responsibility for your people, they put their lives in your hands.". It is believed[by whom?] Sunk by uncontrolled flooding on 4 August 1991 off the coast of South Africa. The notorious Master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. At roughly midnight, Andrews reportedly told Smith the Titanic could last another 60 to 90 minutes. Updated: April 12, 2023 | Original: November 12, 2020. [3][4] Oceanos headed into 40-knot winds and 9m (30ft) swells. The avoidable disaster killed 32 people and seriously injured many others, and left investigators wondering: Why was the luxury cruise ship sailing so close to the shore in the first place? The unfitted ventilation pipe was said to have left a 10cm hole in the watertight bulkhead between the generator and the sewerage tank. But the Carpathia was 58 milesor some four hoursaway. At 12:05 a.m. Smith gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and alert the passengers. The ship reportedly headed into 40-knot winds and 30-foot swells, and thus the typical sail-away outdoor deck party with British entertainers Moss and Tracy Hills was moved to an indoor lounge.
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