Often, as in the case of Schettino, charges are brought based not on dereliction of maritime duty but for offenses that might pertain on land as well, such as negligence and manslaughter. Brett and Paul penetrated the portside corridor behind the on-deck pool while Barry singularly explored the large dining hall area. 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. No matter what time I leave. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members . But with no sign of conditions improving, the captain eventually decided to lift anchor and the Oceanos, with 581 guests and crew on board, sailed off into 40-knot winds and 9m-high (30ft) waves. "[16][19] In 1992, he and five other officers were convicted of negligence by a Greek board of inquiry for fleeing the ship without helping the passengers. The captain went up to the third of these. I heard (former) Captain Avranas was stripped of his papers and sent to jailbut maybe his sentence was suspended??? 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. In the time of need, however, the crew found that everything was useless. As provided for by Greek Maritime Law pursuant to Article 223: Captain of non-departures last during the abandonment of a dangerous ship, punishable by imprisonment and penalty of money . The notorious master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. Francesco Schettino Sparks Outrage". The cruise ship had sailed with seven beauforts. What Was the Titanics Captain Doing While the Ship Sank. The current on the surface was running reverse, and there was no sign of the dreaded Northeaster. Epirotiki Line. 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. 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. Without a driving force, however, he had to find another solution., The captain broadcast SOS. STOCKHOLM - Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. Yonhap/EPA/Landov 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. UK Retailer Simply Scuba Goes Into Administration For Good This Time, Dive Curaao Launches New All-In-One Vacation Platform. After rescuing passengers and crew followed by interrogations in Durban, South Africa. WATCH: Full episodes of When Big Things Go Wrong online now. A very small loss of hull integrity caused a storage tank in the lower machine spaces to fill with sea water. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. Various factors affect the flow rate of the current including pressure systems, the position of flow, coastal-trapped waves, and wind. 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. 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. [2], At the time of the accident, Yiannis Avranas had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. "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. Share; Posted May 23, 2010. It is generally a sequence of events, things that line up in a bad way that ultimately create that incident., READ MORE: 5 Maritime Disasters You Might Not Know About. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. What is glucosamine and fish oil good for? They accused the crew and the captain, but if there werent good moves with so much inconvenience and so much wave who would be saved? [7][failed verification] The NPR radio show and podcast Snap Judgment featured an account of the sinking by Moss Hills. On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. The water steadily rose and flowed through the 10 cm hole in the bulkhead and into the waste disposal tank. REBELLION RESEARCH ADVISORS, L.P. IS A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISER AND NOT FOR PROFIT EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH THINK TANK. All three divers were ecstatic and eager to make the most of the prevailing conditions; the second dive was scheduled for the following day. 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. 19952023, The Independent Traveler, Inc. Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? This is an amazing story -- if they're doing a new story maybe something new has happened -- like maybe the captain will finally be . Her bow hit the sand 92m below the surface, while more than 60m of her stern remained aloft; minutes later, she was gone. Yiannis Avranas not only abandoned the Greek cruise ship Oceanos after it suffered an explosion off the coast of South Africa but cut ahead of an elderly passenger to be hoisted aloft by a helicopter. 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. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. None of the 571 passengers drowned. The Greek government is not doing anything about the incident. In August 2005, a Titanic wreckage expedition found two large, extraordinarily well-preserved sections of the bottom of the ship's hull. . 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. [3] He was quoted soon after the sinking as saying, "When I order abandon the ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. 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. Spouse. Fourth Officer Joseph G. Boxhall made a quick inspection of the ship and returned to the bridge to report that he had found no damage. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? Smith now knew the Titanic was doomed. 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. hide caption. And the second boat was only cooks. The chief engineer reported to Captain Avranas that water was entering the hull and flooding the generator room. Click here to reload the page in order to enable certain features. Powered by Invision Community. That is unbelievable!! Unable to spend sufficient time on the wreck, the Camera 7 team was forced to deploy a remote, surface-controlled camera to acquire the footage required for their investigation. Arriving at the dive site, the team was amazed by the conditions. Realizing the ships fate, the crew fled in panic, neglecting to close the lower deck portholes, which is standard policy during emergency procedures. [16] A South African Navy Diver testified that the captain had insisted on being taken ashore by the first helicopter. Others respect it as "an unwritten rule or law of the sea," said Capt. He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. After the sinking, Avranas attracted extensive media coverage, often being vilified and used as an example of poor professional behaviour while in command. "I'm totally embarrassed by what he did," he said of Schettino. Everyone on board the cruise ship Oceanos was safe and accounted for Monday, but survivors angrily accused the . A coast guard member angrily told him on the phone to Get back on board, damn it!a recorded sound bite that turned into a T-shirt slogan in Italy. 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. A wide range of diverse considerations had to be taken care of, both personally and as a team. "Heres why and how the Oceanos sank off the Wild Coast", Sunday Tribune, 26 Feb, 2017, A Captain's Tale: 'The Rescue Was Perfect - Everybody Is Safe', OCEANOS CAPTAIN INSISTED ON EARLY RESCUE, DIVER SAYS, South Africa probes cause of luxury liner's sinking, Cruise captain sparks outrage among mariners, "Costa Concordia Tragedy: Capt. What happened to the cruise ship Oceanos? Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. The Costa Concordia was owned by Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of Carnival . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. He had also left the radio operator on board, and they were talking. The sense that captains are beyond the law that they are the law, or at least they were, during the age of sail is why they make such great bad guys. 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 . "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. Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mysterywith no shortage of conflicting accounts. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. 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. This window period, although based on unscientific information provided by maritime vessels in the area, falls in May and December. The MV Oceanos was a 153 meter passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. Announcing Our 2023 Cruisers' Choice Award Winners! [3] Entertainment manager Robin Boltman was credited with gathering the passengers in the lounge and playing music to calm them. But is it realistic to expect skippers only human after all to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? The rescue featured in episode 4 of Shockwave, first aired 21 December 2007. The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast in 2012, killing 32 people. It was as if the Wild Coast had been tranquilized by a hunters dart. An iceberg, sir, First Officer William Murdoch replied. 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. At sea he had no kindness. It's shameful. Video footage shows their progress as pale rays of sunlight filtered through the corridor windows, throwing subtle illuminations across the dark interior. She came to rest on her starboard side almost perpendicular to the coastline, with her bow facing seaward. Its captain was accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 4,200 passengers and crew on the night of the wreck. [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 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. After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. "[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". 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.. According to the International Herald Tribune, "Avranas said he had known when he left the ship that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard [but this was] the only way [to] ensure the safety of all those aboard", furthermore "after checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. [5] The generators were shut down because the rising water would have short circuited them. Has the old idea that captains should not abandon ship itself been abandoned? Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. South Korean authorities have arrested Capt. I just watched national geografic program about the Oceanos tragedy. The first engineer along with some of the engine room got on a boat and left. Creating equal decompression profiles for the two systems was a difficult task for Barry that took many hours of calculation. Although Smith had ordered the boats uncovered some 40 minutes earlier, he didnt give the order to begin loading and lowering them until Second Officer Charles Lightoller reminded him by asking, Hadnt we better get the women and children into the boats, sir?. Diving The Oceanos. Moving toward the bow, bad visibility and a substantially more damaged part of the wreck greeted the divers. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. Avranas at the time defended his actions, saying he left the ship to direct rescue operations. The remaining members of the team waited on the boat; some recalled the video footage they had seen of the previous dive made on Monday afternoon and tried to imagine themselves being down there on the wreck with them. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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). However, rough seas caused the party to be held inside in the Four Seasons lounge;[5] most passengers chose to stay in their cabins. "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. 1940) had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. Gas exchanges with backup divers at set points during the ascent worked flawlessly, and the divers surfaced on schedule without incident. -. [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. "When I order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," Avranas said. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Michigan Senator William Alden Smith, who chaired the Senate investigative committee, charged that Captain Smiths indifference to danger was one of the direct and contributing causes of this unnecessary tragedy., But the senator also gave him credit for his manly bearing and his tender solicitude for the safety of women and little children as well as his willingness to die.. But whatever relief Smith might have felt at that moment was quickly shattered. There were also 12 inflatable rescue media on the cruise ship. Such callous words were spoken by Yiannis Avranas, captain of the Greek luxury liner Oceanos, which sank off the coast of South Africa in 1991. 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. EAST LONDON, South Africa . In a matter of minutes, the occupants returned with a very favorable report on conditions. 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. A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. At about 9:30p.m., a muffled explosion was heard and Oceanos lost power. 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. [5] The final minutes of her sinking were captured on video and broadcast by ABC News. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they witnessed the first signs of flooding in the lower decks. Brett was on twin set 36-litre open circuit back-gas, with two 12-liter side-mounted cylinders. August 3, 1991: An explosion shakes the engine room of the Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, as it sails off the South 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. Everyone who had been put into lifeboats was rescued by passing ships and remarkably no lives were lost. At 12:05 a.m. Smith gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and alert the passengers. I would avoid any cruise that involves a Greek ship! [2] Photographs taken in 2002 show that the bridge section has collapsed. "That is the responsibility of the captain, that's why all privileges are given to him but he has together with that an equal burden of responsibility," Pacheco said. At roughly midnight, Andrews reportedly told Smith the Titanic could last another 60 to 90 minutes. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. The divers had penetrated 70m into the wreck with the aid of the scooters. 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. 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. 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. It was also around 12:45 a.m. that crewmen lowered the first of the Titanics lifeboats to the ocean surface. In 2022, Moss Hills who later became a cruise director was interviewed by Jane Garvey for BBC Radio 4's series Life Changing. 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. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? Diesel, emanating from the wreck for nearly 12 years, was visible around the marker buoy an indication that the entire water column lay still. 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. All Rights Reserved. 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). Think of Bligh, or Queeg, or the autocratic captains who drive many of the novels and stories of Herman Melville. [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. Although Barry, Paul, and Brett would dive to the Oceanos as a team, they were all on different equipment. Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. Special Event: Q&A with Rudi Schreiner, President, Co-Founder & Co-Owner - AmaWaterways River Cruises, Q&A with Avoya Travel: Learn How to Turn Your Passion into Success by Becoming an Independent Travel Advisor. The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger. [5][23][24], The Oceanos wreck lies at a depth of between 92m (302ft) and 97m (318ft), about 5km (3.1mi) offshore. According to Boltman, "later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi [sic] even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going. The current, too, was very strong, and the team was worried. Ten minutes later, by the surviving operators estimate, he returned and gave them the order to send out a CQD, the universal distress call that was soon replaced with an SOS. A captain and his crew needlessly endangered the lives of those on board. The ships engineer reported to Captain Yiannis Avranias that water was entering the hull and flooding the generator room. Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. 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. There were 200 sailors on the ship as crew members. Open an account with Rebellion Research now and manage your assets intelligently. "Some people panic, but a short time later they collect their senses and do the right thing," Allen said. International standards for sea captains vary. The ships were used on the Marseilles Madagascar Mauritius service. It is believed[by whom?] INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK AND UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE NOT GUARANTEED. When they bail early, everything falls apart. 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. Schettino reportedly said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. "[5] Hills reportedly rescued Avranas' dog and released his canary. The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. 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. [9][11][16][17] Avranas's emergency management was again widely cited after the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012. After Capt. 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? Both he and Paul had to carry stage cylinders for Brett that would be required at specific depths, so the team had to remain together throughout the dive. Follow her on Twitter at @MsBeckyLittle. 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. [1] He was married to British national Davina Avrana.[3]. The British inquiry essentially exonerated him, saying he did nothing other captains wouldnt have done. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Steve said, We had to hold onto the anchor line with all our strength. 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. 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. 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. [15], Prior to the events of January 1991, Avranas had apparently given no interview to the media. Oceanos was briefly featured in the 1985 film Sky High and with another Epirotiki ship, Apollon XI, in the 1986 film Hardbodies 2. In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab sets off to hunt the whale, leaving the capable Starbuck in charge. Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship? Unfortunately, conditions did not live up to expectations. In between, however, the first engineer was terrified. South Korean authorities have arrested Capt. The weather conditions became so severe that Avranas determined it best to abandon ship and hope for rescue from nearby vessels or helicopters. 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. May she rest in peace and be as kind to those that follow this great accomplishment. Without valves to close on the holding tank, the water coursed through the main drainage pipes and rose like a tide within the ship, spilling out of every shower, toilet, and waste disposal unit connected to the system. In a matter of hours, more than 1,500 passengers and crew would be dead, including Smith himself. Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. But witnesses said he appeared on the bridge of the Titanic just moments later, asking what the storied ship, making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, had struck. Sunk by uncontrolled flooding on 4 August 1991 off the coast of South Africa. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/titanic-captain-edward-smith-final-hours-death. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. In more than 40 years at sea he had rarely been involved in an accident and never held accountable for one. Stranger still are several widely publicized reports that he didnt die at all. 2012 The Associated Press. NAVY DIVER SAYS OCEANOS CAPTAIN DEMANDED TO BE ONE OF FIRST RESCUED. And he did not lighten his position after the accident when he told a foreign television station: The ships abandonment applies to everyone. Davina Avrana. 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. Midday, the sea spills over the bow of Oceanos. All 571 people on board were saved, following one of the worlds most dramatic and successful rescue operations of its kind. Passengers remained ignorant of the events until they witnessed the first signs of flooding on the lower decks. He was 46 years old. Within eight minutes I closed the waterproof doors. The Oceanos thrust her stern into the air and slid nose first into the sea. In the British and American inquiries that followed, a more complicated picture emerged. Something strong wind, something the helicopter pilot, they didnt let me down he said. 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. Will this discovery change our understanding of Titanic's final moments? Maritime experts say such manifestations of courage at sea far outnumber incidents in which captains saved themselves and left their passengers behind. We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. Smiths final moments arent definitively known, but reports varied widely. 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.