If some people like to stay, they can stay."Ī Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. "When I order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," Avranas said. Avranas defended his actions, saying he left the ship to direct rescue operations.
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.Ī 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. 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. Maritime experts say such manifestations of courage at sea far outnumber incidents in which captains saved themselves and left their passengers behind.
Royer, however, died after suffering a head injury when he finally left the ship. The crew said that likely saved their lives, because the ship's emergency beacon didn't work.Īfter more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. 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. Smith, who evacuated the ship - women and children first - until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it.Ī more recent example is Robert Royer, the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Alaska in 2010. The most famous, perhaps, is the captain of the Titanic, E.J. Both literature and real life offer plenty of examples of shipmasters who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect their passengers and crew.
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