With two high profile cruise ship incidents this year, albeit 100
years apart, attention naturally falls on the captains. Maritime
tradition dictates that the master is the last to leave a stricken
vessel, an edict reinforced by an age-old honour.
The celebrated captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco
Schettino, who forgot his glasses and steered his ship onto rocks
then “fell” into a lifeboat as hundreds of his panicked passengers
tried to abandon ship without a prior emergency drill, will be
remembered as Cowardly Captain Catastrophe. Conversely, the 62-
y-o Captain Edward Smith of the White Star Line knew he would
never make it off the Titanic alive and died after supervising the
evacuation, many say, as a chivalrous hero. But what of other famous
captains of calamity? Could any rival these two for extreme contrast?
No Reprieve: Even though Captain William Turner valiantly stayed
at the helm as the torpedoed RMS Lusitania rapidly sank on 7 May
1915, he was admonished by the media for not going down with the
other 1198 souls.
Cowardice under fire: In 2005 I sailed aboard the icebreaker,
Kapitan Khlebnikov, and struck up a conversation with one of the
crew. She had abandoned ship twice in her short career, the first
time being the famous MTS Oceanos, which sank after an engine
room explosion off South Africa in 1991. Greek Captain Yiannis
Avranas, scampered with his officers in a lifeboat leaving half the
ship’s passengers to fend for themselves. The last passengers were
saved by the band’s guitarist and a magician. At the subsequent
inquiry, he famously stated, “When I give the order abandon ship, it
doesn’t matter what time I leave. Abandon is for everybody. If some
people want to stay, they can stay.” Avranas is still a captain today.
Bad call skipper: Also 100 years ago, Australia’s Titanic, the SS
Yongala, disappeared without trace in a cyclone. Should Captain
William Knight have anchored in safety instead of the fateful
decision to steam on to Townsville? Yep.
Women and children last: In 1965, young Captain Byron
Voutsinas was in command of the aging 5,000 ton steamer,
Yarmouth Castle. Voutsinas’s action in time of dire need is possibly
the greatest act of maritime cowardice in recent times. A raging fire
broke out while the stately old vessel was sailing from Miami to
Nassau. Luckily rescue ships arrived on the scene quickly, but they
first found Voutsinas, his officers and just four passengers in a halffull
life boat. The remaining 370 passengers and 170 crew were
fighting for their lives aboard the doomed vessel. While there later
emerged many acts of bravery among his crew, there were no
heroic citations for Voutsinas and his senior officers. The final death
toll was 90 and new Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) laws were
enacted as a result.
Ultimate chivalry: The Germans take a dim view to captains who
lose their ships, especially through negligence. The world’s first
purpose-built cruise ship, the luxurious Prinzessin Victoria Luise, ran
onto rocks near Kingston harbour in 1906 after the master, Captain
Brunswig, misread a lighthouse beacon. All passengers were safely
evacuated, but as an ultimate act of honour, Brunswig calmly
retreated to his stateroom and shot himself.
