Legal proceedings. In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab sets off to hunt the whale, leaving the capable Starbuck in charge. 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. "When I order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," Avranas said. As soon as we reached seven degrees, we decided to lower the boats and start evacuation. March 5, 2004. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about the sinking, titled The Oceanos Tragedy. Without a driving force, however, he had to find another solution., The captain broadcast SOS. The cruise ship had sailed with seven beauforts. Smith was accused of ignoring ice warnings from other ships and failing to reduce the ships speed to fit the conditions at hand. Brett was on twin set 36-litre open circuit back-gas, with two 12-liter side-mounted cylinders. He had set sail for a sandy area at four miles, which he had found on the map. It was now just after 12:30 a.m. Now he was about to preside over one of the worst sea disasters of all time. 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 expedition required diligent and intense preparation. [5][6] Thirteen of the sixteen were South African Air Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted 225 passengers off the deck. 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. "Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. He immediately ordered an evacuation of all passengers and crew. At about 9:30p.m., a muffled explosion was heard and Oceanos lost power. "It is my responsibility. 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. 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. What Happened to the Captain of the Cruise Ship Oceanos? [22] The show Extreme Weather: The Survivors featured a segment on the sinking. I am the captain. I would know him even without his beard.. Michael O Mahoney, a passenger remembers at least 30 crew members got on the first boat, while the captain left on a helicopter while passengers were still on deck. What Was the Titanic's Captain Doing While the Ship Sank? - History What is glucosamine and fish oil good for? 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. What happened to the captain and crew of the Oceanos? If some people like to stay, they can stay.". 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. Photographs, some taken by survivors, document the cruise ship sinking off Southern Africa's eastern coast in August 1991. "But that would come after the ship has been evacuated," he added. 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. What happened to the captain of the Oceanos ship? "It comes from the tradition that the captain has ultimate responsibility and should put the care of others ahead of his own well-being in the discharge of his duties," says David Winkler, program director with the Naval Historical Foundation. The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, slammed into a reef on Friday, after Schettino made an unauthorized maneuver. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. 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 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? "[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. Other information if you google or youtube it. But over 100 people left on board, crew and passengers. A wide range of diverse considerations had to be taken care of, both personally and as a team. 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. He said he supervised the . He wanted to see where they were taking the crew to land. Greek Captain Criticized For Leaving Ship Early - New York Times 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. Sunk by uncontrolled flooding on 4 August 1991 off the coast of South Africa. [8] They were assisted by the lifeboats of the Dutch cargo ship Nedlloyd Mauritius, which had responded to the distress call. 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. While the ship could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments, depending on their location, five tipped into catastrophic territory. Davina Avrana. 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. The guitarist who saved hundreds of people on a sinking cruise liner At six in the morning the helicopters appeared. In more than 40 years at sea he had rarely been involved in an accident and never held accountable for one. The divers descended the anchor line and were able to return to it some twenty minutes later, after making their way around most of this 152 m wreck. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? 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. After the sinking, Avranas attracted extensive media coverage, often being vilified and used as an example of poor professional behaviour while in command. 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. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. It is believed[by whom?] The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. Francesco Schettino, were charged with various crimes. Passengers remained ignorant of the events until they witnessed the first signs of flooding on the lower decks. With hundreds of people on board, the ship springs a leak, then . IIRC his response to being in a life boat was, "he was oraganizing the rescue effort! READ MORE: Why Nobody Remembers America's Worst Maritime Disaster. Meanwhile the extraction was completely broken, the engine room was filling water and tilting forward the ship. I have made a mess and practically the whole ship is flooding, Schettino told Ferrarini while the ship was sinking. Steve Minne and Johan Swart confirmed the formidable force of the current. Realizing the ships fate, the crew fled in panic, neglecting to close the lower deck portholes, which is standard policy during emergency procedures. Sinking of the Oceanos 1991 - Cruise Critic Community MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. "Abandon is for everybody. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? "[9] They were among the last to be rescued. Nearby vessels responded to the ships SOS and were the first to assist. Oceanos was briefly featured in the 1985 film Sky High and with another Epirotiki ship, Apollon XI, in the 1986 film Hardbodies 2. 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. I wouldnt recommend this wreck to anyone but the best technical divers who really know what theyre doing.. And he did not lighten his position after the accident when he told a foreign television station: The ship's abandonment applies to . Yiannis Avranas (born ca. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. Two small ships in the vicinity were first on the scene, and provided the ship's coordinates to the South African authorities. We strive for accuracy and fairness. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The MV Oceanos was a 153 meter passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. He is being held in house arrest as prosecutors prepare criminal charges. Four months later, on December 23, Rehan Bouwer, Steve Minne, Johan Swart, Ian Symington, and Nicko Brand returned to the Oceanos. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. 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. Once complete, the team focused on preparing for the dives. They understood their roles and contributed to the success of this dive. It was August 3, 1991 when Rosemary Roe saw the dishes slipping on the table during dinner. 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. The generators had been shorted, and the supply of power to the engines had been severed. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. On 3 August 1991, the Oceanos set out from East London, South Africa and headed to Durban. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? Captain Davina Avranas English wife aboard the ship with their daughter Faye. The ship was built in France and owned by a Greek cruise ship company. (Reuter) | Aug 07, 1991 8:00PM EDT. Brett and Paul penetrated the portside corridor behind the on-deck pool while Barry singularly explored the large dining hall area. ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright 1996 - 2022 deeperblue.net limited. The MV Oceanos was a 153m passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. All 571 people on board were saved, following one of the worlds most dramatic and successful rescue operations of its kind. Physical and psychological training, descent strategies, bottom times, gas mixes, decompression profiles, equipment, and logistical planning; all these considerations had to be finalized before the team arrived on location at the Hole in the Wall hotel, where supportive technical diving and medical infrastructures do not exist. I sure hope he's no longer a ship's captain anywhere! After five days of staying at the hotel, the other Greek sailors with the assistance of the Greek consular authorities also escaped. 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. There is some film on YOUTUBE showing the sinking of the Oceanos. is University of Washington a good school. However, rough seas caused the party to be held inside in the Four Seasons lounge;[5] most passengers chose to stay in their cabins. Does anyone know of the current whereabouts of former Captain Yiannis Avranas of the doomed Oceanos? 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. Maritime experts said the tradition of a captain standing by his ship isn't established in international maritime law. 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. He says he lowered the switches, stopped the power generators and the ships engines. For many years, seasoned technical diver, Barry Coleman, has had one consuming desire: to dive the Oceanos. 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. 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. Barry Coleman was yelling, Its a good day to dive, I can feel it in my bones! Well, a good day it certainly was! "I'm totally embarrassed by what he did," he said of Schettino. None of the 571 passengers drowned. Italys highest court has upheld the 16-year jail sentence given to the captain of the Costa Concordia, which capsized in 2012 killing 32 people. It is this forward section of the wreck that incurred the wrath of the ocean floor as the bow slammed into the seabed. After rescuing passengers and crew followed by interrogations in Durban, South Africa. 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. dontpanik, July 2, 2007 in What Ever Happened To..??? 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. 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. 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. The ocean had reached the point where the sea was 81 meters deep. WE ARE ALLOWED TO DO BUSINESS IN NEW YORK, TEXAS AND KENTUCKY ALONG WITH OTHER STATES WHERE WE ARE REGISTERED, EXEMPTED OR EXCLUDED FROM REGISTRATION. 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 . 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. At sea he had no kindness. / AP. The Oceanos had been on its usual route along the South African coast when it encountered heavy rains and gale-force winds. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they witnessed the first signs of flooding in the lower decks. 2012 The Associated Press. Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? The Victorian notion that a captain should actually go down with the ship has become archaic. On open-circuit scuba, the exhaled breath is not fed back into the system but is expelled and is no longer useable. "[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". [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. What Was the Titanics Captain Doing While the Ship Sank. [9] All 581 people on board were saved. The most famous, perhaps, is the captain of the Titanic, E.J. Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. "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. 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. 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. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The water steadily rose and flowed through the 10 cm hole in the bulkhead and into the waste disposal tank.