I have made a mess and practically the whole ship is flooding, Schettino told Ferrarini while the ship was sinking. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members of those missing," Lee told reporters. [15], Prior to the events of January 1991, Avranas had apparently given no interview to the media. 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. Epirotiki Lines had lost two other ships within the three years preceding the sinking: the company's flagship Pegasus only two months before, and MV Jupiter, three years before. Employer. 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. Schettino argued that he fell into a lifeboat because of how the ship was listing to one side, but this argument proved unconvincing. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. [2], At the time of the accident, Yiannis Avranas had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. Even if he's not convicted, it is highly unlikely that he'll ever command a cruise or cargo ship again because of the damage to his reputation, said Prof. Craig Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Back in the early 1990's came an incredible event, most now, don't remember or know about. Jean Laborde went through many different owners and name changes (Jean Laborde, Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess) in the succeeding decades. The MV Oceanos was a 153 meter passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. Reinforced when Capt. 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. Francesco Schettino Sparks Outrage", "Revisiting the sinking of Oceanos part 1:Heroic Rescue Effort Saves 571", Down With The Ship NPR Snap Judgement episode #726, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MTS_Oceanos&oldid=1151622929, Sunk by uncontrolled flooding on 4 August 1991 off the coast of, This page was last edited on 25 April 2023, at 05:19. Gas exchanges with backup divers at set points during the ascent worked flawlessly, and the divers surfaced on schedule without incident. is University of Washington a good school. Most have heard the story, the sinking of the OCEANOS with 571 passengers and crew on board, none of whom suffered . The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. In more than 40 years at sea he had rarely been involved in an accident and never held accountable for one. After twenty-seven minutes at 90m and thirty-four minutes on run time, an orange submersible marker buoy broke the surface, and the deep-water back divers bailed into the water. I will certainly avoid any Greek ferriesof course truth be known, I avoid all foreign ferries since I don't trust what they think an acceptable number of passengers is. Midday, the sea spills over the bow of Oceanos. Her bow hit the sand 92m below the surface, while more than 60m of her stern remained aloft; minutes later, she was gone. Then 15 minutes later, the bubbles returned, and there was a sigh of relief. Whilst laying the anchor line on the Oceanos that day, the boats remained almost stationary as the opposing forces of wind and current battled against each other for ascendancy. The Oceanos crew was referred to disciplinary inspection for withdrawal of diploma or grade, but they were all acquitted.. Jim Staples, a captain for 20 years, who spoke Wednesday from a 1,000-foot cargo vessel he was captaining near New Orleans, said captains are duty-bound to stay with the ship until the situation is hopeless. An iceberg, sir, First Officer William Murdoch replied. "[12][13], Captain Alevizos Klaudatos, head of Epirotiki Line, was quoted in The Star as saying: "Of course the crew members assigned to the boats have to enter first in order to assist the embarkation of the passengers", "as regards the captain abandoning the vessel, this is untrue and he has maintained his position throughout in assisting the rescue in the most effective way". The expedition required diligent and intense preparation. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. With hundreds of people on board, the ship springs a leak, then . After the required decompression runtimes, the divers surfaced, and the team returned to shore. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The Costa Concordia was owned by Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of Carnival . The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. At 12:05 a.m. Smith gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and alert the passengers. 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. In 1991, Capt. This statement has placed the 51-year-old . The good news was that the current had weakened substantially, so the dive was postponed in the hope that conditions would improve later in the day. Yiannis Avranas (born ca. [20][21], Dateline NBC aired a documentary of the incident on 23 May 2010. A 2:20 a.m., the last portion of the Titanic disappeared between the waves. When his "death-glorious ship" sinks, Ahab mourns that he's been denied the "pride" of having gone down with her. 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. 1940) had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Soon after the collision, he and other officers saw what they believed to be the lights of a nearby ship. Meanwhile, he told the ships two wireless operators to get ready to transmit distress signals. "I'm kind of flummoxed that a master of a passenger ship anywhere in the world would not understand his obligation extends until that last person is safely off the ship," says Craig Allen, director of the Arctic Law & Policy Institute at the University of Washington. Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mysterywith no shortage of conflicting accounts. Video footage shows their progress as pale rays of sunlight filtered through the corridor windows, throwing subtle illuminations across the dark interior. All 571 passengers and crew survived. In last year's Star Trek Into Darkness, the bad guy taunts Captain Kirk by saying, "No ship should go down without her captain.". Spouse. "He deeply regrets not being with his crew. The captain went up to the third of these. It had also had several sewerage-holding tank non-return valves stripped for repairs following problems with bilge water rising through showers and toilets on a recent trip to Mozambique. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}320715S 290713E / 32.12083S 29.12028E / -32.12083; 29.12028 (Oceanos wreck). The incident came two years after Francesco Schettino, the captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, was charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship charges he denies. January 19, 2012 / 3:02 PM This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Legal proceedings. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. She came to rest on her starboard side almost perpendicular to the coastline, with her bow facing seaward. One week later, a 32-member team arrived on the scene as part of MNet Camera 7 news channels investigative documentary into the sinking of the Oceanos. 19952023, The Independent Traveler, Inc. Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? The objective was to show how the application of experience and established diving technique to a near-insurmountable challenge could safely lead to success. By That is unbelievable!! A wide range of diverse considerations had to be taken care of, both personally and as a team. By God, you are right! Smith replied. In between, however, the first engineer was terrified. In 2022, Moss Hills who later became a cruise director was interviewed by Jane Garvey for BBC Radio 4's series Life Changing. 1940)[1] is a Greek former sea captain who commanded the cruise ship Oceanos when she sank off the Wild Coast of the Transkei, South Africa, on Sunday 4 August 1991. Smith now knew the Titanic was doomed. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yiannis_Avranas&oldid=1133434367, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 19:56. For a moment, they disappeared where had the bubbles gone? In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab sets off to hunt the whale, leaving the capable Starbuck in charge. Its captain was accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 4,200 passengers and crew on the night of the wreck. In addition, Pryals doctor attested that he was absolutely sane and not given to hallucinations., In fact, Pryal said he had seen Smith twice, once on a Wednesday and again the following Saturday, when he returned to the same spot to look for him. If some people like to stay, they can stay.". Heres some good live video when it happened!!! Best Known For: Captain Edward J. Smith played a role in one of the most famous disasters at sea in history, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. Evacuation was made even more chaotic by the ship listing so far to starboard, making walking inside very difficult and lowering the lifeboats on one side, near to impossible. The function of a rebreather is to re-circulate the unused oxygen in the exhaled breath whilst scrubbing it of all traces of carbon dioxide. . TRY ASKING HOST DOUGhe usually knows those things. Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and of abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. WATCH: Full episodes of When Big Things Go Wrong online now. "It is my responsibility. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. Abandonment is for everybody, if some people want to stay, they can stay. "[10], Captain Avranas received extensive media coverage as an example of unprofessional behaviour whilst in command. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. Search and Rescue contacted the ship a few minutes after 10:00 p.m., but Schettino didnt tell them what had happened for about 20 more minutes. 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. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? [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. The wind was still blowing, and large swells were visible on the horizon. "If the master is simply looking out for himself or herself, you've breached your duty both legally and morally, to your ship, your crew and your passengers," says Allen, the University of Washington law professor. The captain broadcasted a distress signal as he tried to steer the ship towards shore in order for rescuers to reach them. At six in the morning the helicopters appeared. [5] They used the radio phone to broadcast a mayday distress call until Moss received a response.[7]. 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? Both literature and real life offer plenty of examples of shipmasters who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect their passengers and crew. 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. All three divers were ecstatic and eager to make the most of the prevailing conditions; the second dive was scheduled for the following day. He immediately ordered an evacuation of all passengers and crew. 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. ", "Costa Concordia Tragedy: Capt. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. The helicopter was used to survey conditions around the wreck that lies at a distance of 9.5km from Hole in the Wall. What happened to the captain of the Oceanos? Tonight on Dateline(NBC) they are doing a special about the sinking of the Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, and the survivors from 8-4-91. "[9] They were among the last to be rescued. EAST LONDON, South Africa . After an hour of waiting, he said he saw Smith coming, approached him, and asked him how we was. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they witnessed the first signs of flooding in the lower decks. ", First published on January 19, 2012 / 3:02 PM. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images 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.. On August 7, a news report emerged with the title: Battle for the critical hours . In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about . However, rough seas caused the party to be held inside in the Four Seasons lounge;[5] most passengers chose to stay in their cabins. "Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. "Ahab is a great example in the sense that he knows a captain should go down with his ship," says Wyn Kelley, a Melville scholar at MIT. It was now just after 12:30 a.m. READ MORE: Why Nobody Remembers America's Worst Maritime Disaster. -. Just before he boarded a train to Washington, Pryal reported, the man smiled at him and said, Be good, shipmate, until we meet again., There is no possibility I am mistaken. Pryal told a reporter. On the morning of July 12, 1952, Forges Chantiers de la Gironde launched the last of four sister ships in Bordeaux, France, under the name of Jean Laborde. On open-circuit scuba, the exhaled breath is not fed back into the system but is expelled and is no longer useable. 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. But his or her responsibility extends to executing the evacuation plan that all passenger ships are required to have and practice. After Capt. 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. 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. This page is not available in other languages. Very well, Pryal, the man supposedly answered, but please dont detain me. Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship? 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. The ship they spotted in the distance didnt answer, but several others did. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck portholes. dontpanik, July 2, 2007 in What Ever Happened To..??? It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The captain must first ensure the safety of his passengers, then of his crew and, finally, of the ship, though the notion that he's supposed to go down with it is more legend than fact. It is believed[by whom?] Nearby vessels responded to the ships SOS and were the first to assist. Should oxygen levels drop below those required by the diver, O2 can be computationally or manually injected into the system from an onboard cylinder to replenish the supply. [10][11] Among the entertainers onboard was the South African cabaret performer, Alvon Collison,[12][13] who later reported that he had begun singing an impromptu repertoire as the ship was sinking, in an effort to keep the passengers' spirits up. Francesco Schettino had handed himself in to the Rebibbia prison in Rome after the verdict, his lawyer said. On 3 August 1991, the Oceanos set out from East London, South Africa and headed to Durban. That was one of several incidents that have led some historians to question whether Smith had gone into a state of shock. There was no reply to either. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger crash-landed a flight in the Hudson River in 2009, he twice walked the plane to make sure no one was left onboard before leaving himself. Barry, Brett, and Paul disappeared below the surface. [2] Divers have visited her, but strong currents make the dive difficult. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. By Philip G Van Rensburg. He wanted to see where they were taking the crew to land. It was also discussed in an episode of Nova on 18 April 2012, entitled, "Why Ships Sink", which focused mainly on the Costa Concordia accident (whose commanding officer also fled while passengers were still aboard). [5][6] Thirteen of the sixteen were South African Air Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted 225 passengers off the deck. En route to Durban, the Oceanos cruise ship set out from the port of East London on Saturday, August 3, 1991, into 40-knot winds and nine-meter swells. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Schettino reportedly said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. While the ship could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments, depending on their location, five tipped into catastrophic territory. Under charter by TFC Tours,[1] Oceanos initially delayed by a bomb threat set out from East London, South Africa on 3 August 1991, and headed for Durban. 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. The Oceanos lost power following a leak in the engine room's sea chest. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? Stranger still are several widely publicized reports that he didnt die at all. 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. Although Barry, Paul, and Brett would dive to the Oceanos as a team, they were all on different equipment. At any time when you have an incident similar to Concordia, there is nevera single causal factor, says Brad Schoenwald, a senior marine inspector at the United States Coast Guard. The dive was aborted for the day. The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. The ship underwent several name changes, including Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess, and finally, in 1976, under the . "A lot of this is candidly still more lore than law," says Miller Shealy, a maritime law professor at the Charleston School of Law. March 5, 2004. Nothing less will do in this profession," said Jorgen Loren, captain of a passenger ferry operating between Sweden and Denmark and chairman of the Swedish Maritime Officer's Association. Follow her on Twitter at @MsBeckyLittle. Steve said, We had to hold onto the anchor line with all our strength. http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/08/21/crew-bails-on-passengers-of-sinking-cruise-liner/. [3][4] Oceanos headed into 40-knot winds and 9m (30ft) swells. The cruise ship had sailed with seven beauforts. 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. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. The water steadily rose and flowed through the 10 cm hole in the bulkhead and into the waste disposal tank. Although conditions looked very good for diving, a large shore break was preventing our launch, and the skippers felt the risk to the team, and their vessels were too great. The decision was to be his last as captain of the Oceanos. Diesel, emanating from the wreck for nearly 12 years, was visible around the marker buoy an indication that the entire water column lay still. More than 4,200 people were rescued, though 32 people died. 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. At first it appeared as if Smiths luck was going to hold. Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. Announcing Our 2023 Cruisers' Choice Award Winners! 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. At this stage, eyewitness accounts reveal that many of the crew, including Captain Avranas, were already packed and ready to depart. The sinking of Oceanos. hide caption. Three years later she wrote in her book entitled, The Tragedy of the Oceanos: Christos Nikolaou, an Oceanist, had a relative who was an executive at the Panhellenic Federation. It remains so potent because of the almost mythic authority invested in ship captains, Allen suggests. The onsite expedition requirements included everything from personal diving gear, three imported Silent Submersion scooters, twenty staged decompression cylinders, a specialized mixed gas compressor unit, several large oxygen, and helium cylinders, three 7.3m rigid hull inflatable boats, an evacuation helicopter, and trained medical personnel. Reports indicate that at around 21:30 off the Wild Coast of the Transkei, the Oceanus Cruise ship lost its power following an explosion in the engine room. On one occasion the 200-liter drum we used as a marker buoy was pulled down to 34m by the current. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members . He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Only entertainment staff, singers and waiters helped us later. Why did the captain go down with the ship? A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. The moment was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as the "Birkenhead drill." No alarm was raised. Fleeing in a lifeboat, they were told by the captain of a rescue ship to go back and help their passengers. We were preparing to eat when the first mechanic warned us. 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. The team retired for the night, hoping that conditions would improve. Since the year of her sinking, the Oceanos has remained in solitary confinement, guarded by the Agulhas current and the secluded landscape of the Transkei. Among the crew, however, some tried to save themselves first. A magician who had been performing on the ship took over the bridge, monitoring rescue calls, as a fellow entertainer kept passengers calm by playing Beatles songs on his guitar. "If you are leader, you have responsibility for your people, they put their lives in your hands.". Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Still others believed he had made it to an overturned lifeboat but lost his grip, possibly when one of the Titanics immense funnels broke loose and crashed into the water nearby. After evacuating, the 105 meter long ship began to sink. Think of Bligh, or Queeg, or the autocratic captains who drive many of the novels and stories of Herman Melville. It was abject cowardice.". Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. 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. Now he was about to preside over one of the worst sea disasters of all time. They understood their roles and contributed to the success of this dive. Royer, however, died after suffering a head injury when he finally left the ship. Passengers thought the captain had left the ship. Brett was on twin set 36-litre open circuit back-gas, with two 12-liter side-mounted cylinders. Being one of the worlds most difficult wrecks to reach and successfully dive, the Oceanos offers great rewards for technical divers at the top of their game.