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. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. (Schettino insisted the ship sailed close to shore to salute other mariners and give passengers a good view.) 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. The decision was to be his last as captain of the Oceanos. The sinking of Oceanos. [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. "When they go bad, they're evil," Shealy says. Schettino also didnt immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. A South African navy diver said the captain of the sunken Greek liner Oceanos pushed past elderly pa. Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. Francesco Schettino, were charged with various crimes. Everyone who had been put into lifeboats was rescued by passing ships and remarkably no lives were lost. 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. In August 2005, a Titanic wreckage expedition found two large, extraordinarily well-preserved sections of the bottom of the ship's hull. Diesel, emanating from the wreck for nearly 12 years, was visible around the marker buoy an indication that the entire water column lay still. [5][23][24], The Oceanos wreck lies at a depth of between 92m (302ft) and 97m (318ft), about 5km (3.1mi) offshore. The weather forecast was predicting a strong northeasterly wind by morning, a factor that could easily mean the end of the expedition. Passengers remained ignorant of the events until they witnessed the first signs of flooding on the lower decks. Photographs, some taken by survivors, document the cruise ship sinking off Southern Africa's eastern coast in August 1991. A more recent example is Robert Royer, the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Alaska in 2010. "He deeply regrets not being with his crew. By the next morning rescuers found Oceanos adrift just off Coffee Bay, on the Wild Coast. On open-circuit scuba, the exhaled breath is not fed back into the system but is expelled and is no longer useable. I would avoid any cruise that involves a Greek ship! More than 4,200 people were rescued, though 32 people died. The bridge section, however, appeared to have collapsed, leaving a field of debris on the sand below. He said the export to the electric generators had been opened by a surge and water was pouring in. 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. ", the captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia. Employer. [3] He was quoted soon after the sinking as saying, "When I order abandon the ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. 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. 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. But over 100 people left on board, crew and passengers. Its captain was accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 4,200 passengers and crew on the night of the wreck. It was August 3, 1991 when Rosemary Roe saw the dishes slipping on the table during dinner. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Its captain was accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 4,200 passengers and crew on the night of the wreck. 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. [1] Avranas was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. hide caption. The MV Oceanos was a 153m passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. The ships were used on the Marseilles Madagascar Mauritius service. But his or her responsibility extends to executing the evacuation plan that all passenger ships are required to have and practice. All Rights Reserved. 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. There were 200 sailors on the ship as crew members. This statement has placed the 51-year-old . Oceanos was briefly featured in the 1985 film Sky High and with another Epirotiki ship, Apollon XI, in the 1986 film Hardbodies 2. The impact and water leakage caused an electrical blackout on the ship, and a recorded phone call with Costa Crocieres crisis coordinator, Roberto Ferrarini, shows he tried to downplay and cover up his actions by saying the blackout was what actually caused the accident. Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Hills was interviewed in the special, and related that some years later he had been on board when the MS Achille Lauro of Star Lauro sank. Updated: April 12, 2023 | Original: November 12, 2020. [5] They used the radio phone to broadcast a mayday distress call until Moss received a response.[7]. Among the crew, however, some tried to save themselves first. 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. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck portholes. Special Section: Italian Cruise DisasterCruise ship to port: It's just a blackoutPressure mounts on cruise ship divers. Costa Concordia disaster, the capsizing of an Italian cruise ship on January 13, 2012, after it struck rocks off the coast of Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Edward Smith went down with the Titanic, the notion that a captain must stay with his ship became part of folklore. He hit the bottom, got back up, side of the fault and was swallowed by the sea forever.. 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? Blowing in the same direction as the current, a strong northeasterly wind would slowly increase the rate of flow beyond that conducive for diving. While the ship could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments, depending on their location, five tipped into catastrophic territory. International standards for sea captains vary. I heard (former) Captain Avranas was stripped of his papers and sent to jailbut maybe his sentence was suspended??? https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yiannis_Avranas&oldid=1133434367, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 19:56. After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. 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. Although Barry, Paul, and Brett would dive to the Oceanos as a team, they were all on different equipment. 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. On 3 August 1991, the Oceanos - initially delayed due to a bomb threat - set out from East London, South Africa and headed for Durban.Captain Yiannis Avranas (born ca. The notorious Master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. All Rights Reserved. The dive was aborted for the day. Smith was accused of ignoring ice warnings from other ships and failing to reduce the ships speed to fit the conditions at hand. Unfortunately, conditions did not live up to expectations. ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright 1996 - 2022 deeperblue.net limited. Unbelievable but true - an account of the terrifying conditions on the OCEANOS on 4 August 1991 when it became obvious that not only was the position of the ship unknown, but the whereabouts of the captain and some crew as well. [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. Back in the early 1990's came an incredible event, most now, don't remember or know about. In the middle of the 19th century, there were a number of incidents in which ships foundered and captains and their crews were either celebrated for leading the rescue or reviled for saving themselves while passengers drowned. What is glucosamine and fish oil good for? 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. Two small ships in the vicinity were first on the scene, and provided the ship's coordinates to the South African authorities. 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. On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. Industries; War and Militaries; The first engineer along with some of the engine room got on a boat and left. In its investigative report on the 2012 disaster, Italys Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports found that the Concordia was sailing too close to the coastline, in a poorly lit shore areaat an unsafe distance at night time and at high speed (15.5 kts)., In his trial, Captain Schettino blamed the shipwreck on Helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, who he claimed reacted incorrectly to his order; and argued that if the helmsman had reacted correctly and quickly, the ship wouldnt have wrecked. He and fellow entertainer Julian Butler[8] directed the efforts of the entertainment staff - including Robin Boltman - to assist them. From that point on, Smiths activities become more of a blur. After ramming into the sea floor, the Oceanos slipped silently beneath the waves. The teams arrival at Hole in the Wall on Saturday, May 3, was scheduled to coincide with a window period in which there is a reduction in the force of the Agulhas current. Captain Davina Avranas English wife aboard the ship with their daughter Faye. She headed into 40-knot (20m/s) winds and 9m (30ft) swells. Moving toward the bow, bad visibility and a substantially more damaged part of the wreck greeted the divers. The team rushed to kit up and made their way to the launch site, eager to climb through the open window of opportunity while it lasted. He in consultation with the international federation fled Nikolaou to Greece. Maritime officials who did not want to be quoted said it was . As author Wyn Craig Wade wrote in The Titanic: End of a Dream, Captain Smith had at least five different deaths, from heroic to ignominious. Rumors of his survival also circulated. "If you are leader, you have responsibility for your people, they put their lives in your hands.". 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. I am the captain. 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. "A lot of this is candidly still more lore than law," says Miller Shealy, a maritime law professor at the Charleston School of Law. I saw Captain Smith getting excited; passengers would not have noticed, but I did, May Sloan, a surviving Titanic stewardess, wrote in a letter shortly after the disaster. http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/08/21/crew-bails-on-passengers-of-sinking-cruise-liner/. Bubbles moved toward the stern and then back again to amidships. At roughly midnight, Andrews reportedly told Smith the Titanic could last another 60 to 90 minutes. And on the boat what could he do in addition., The circumstances were tragic and my responsibility was more than great. "You need someone on the ship to communicate with them, to command the people who are on the ship, to help get the passengers off and to guide the rescuers.". About 2:00 p.m., the Oceanos begins its vertical descent. 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.. Bill Wright, senior vice president of Marine Operations for the Royal Caribbean International cruise line. A very small loss of hull integrity caused a storage tank in the lower machine spaces to fill with sea water. In another instance, Smith ordered that a lifeboat be lowered from the boat deck to the promenade deck, so passengers could climb in more easily. [8] They were assisted by the lifeboats of the Dutch cargo ship Nedlloyd Mauritius, which had responded to the distress call. Ralph White/Corbis/Getty Images. None of the 571 passengers drowned. The first meet was a pool session where, for the first time in an underwater environment, the divers had a chance to meet all the team members and familiarize themselves with each others equipment. 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. And the second boat was only cooks. Schettino reportedly said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. "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. 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. 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. 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. 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. [2] Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck. "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. We strive for accuracy and fairness. The unfitted ventilation pipe was said to have left a 10cm hole in the watertight bulkhead between the generator and the sewerage tank. He didnt give up on the mystery ship, ordering the crew of at least one lifeboat to row toward the lights, drop off passengers and return to Titanic for more. If some people like to stay, they can stay. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. Avranas was charged with misconduct after it was discovered that he and numerous crew members left the ship while the passengers remained behind. Several witnesses claimed to have seen him in the water. Here's a link if you want to see a video of the story. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. "In Anglo-American law, you would lose your license and make yourself liable.". 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? 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 Greek government is not doing anything about the incident. He was 46 years old. 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. EAST LONDON, South Africa . It is this forward section of the wreck that incurred the wrath of the ocean floor as the bow slammed into the seabed. He said he supervised the . He immediately ordered an evacuation of all passengers and crew. Barry Coleman was yelling, Its a good day to dive, I can feel it in my bones! Well, a good day it certainly was! 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. Known for. They had returned them as they had sent them., Two babies, one 22 days old and the other one year old I put them down with a bucket (bucket) on the boat, he says. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? [9] All 581 people on board were saved. Smith also checked in periodically with the wireless operators until, at about 2 a.m., he released them from duty and told them to try to save themselves. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. / AP. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about the sinking, titled The Oceanos Tragedy. For the mythological figure, see, "Owner of Lost Greek Cruise Ship Has History of Maritime Mishaps", "A Captain's Tale: 'The Rescue Was Perfect Everybody Is Safe', "Oceanos Captain Insisted On Early Rescue, Diver Says", "The guitarist who saved hundreds of people on a sinking cruise liner", "Hero plays music to calm terrified passengers", "South Africa probes cause of luxury liner's sinking", "The inimitable Alvon Collison, the wind beneath our wings", "Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship? 19952023, The Independent Traveler, Inc. Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? [9], A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. It is believed[by whom?] [14] He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. Receive the latest AI investment news, offers, and updates from Rebellion Research. Captain of White Star Liner, RMS Titanic, Commander Edward J. Smith, c. 1911. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The ship was built in France and owned by a Greek cruise ship company. No matter what time I leave. In 1965, the captain and several other crew members were among the first to abandon ship after the Yarmouth Castle caught fire and started sinking off the Bahamas, killing 90. 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?. "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. But when it deviated from its planned path to sail closer to the island of Giglio, the ship struck a reef known as the Scole Rocks. The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. Abandon is for everybody. Making the most of the break, the team took some time out from the daily diving routine to explore the remarkable area with its beautiful landscapes and majestic sea views. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. 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. Making things worse, the crew had dropped the anchor incorrectly, causing the ship to flop over even more dramatically. I never saw the captain among us helping, he says.. Still hoping to get the attention of the mysterious ship nearby, the captain ordered the firing of distress rockets at 12:45 a.m. At the same time, Boxhall tried to contact it with a signal lamp, flashing a plea for help in Morse code. 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. In a matter of hours, more than 1,500 passengers and crew would be dead, including Smith himself. Most have heard the story, the sinking of the OCEANOS with 571 passengers and crew on board, none of whom suffered . When they bail early, everything falls apart. Outwardly, Smith seems to have kept up a brave front, appearing captain-like to the last, at least to most observers. August 3, 1991: An explosion shakes the engine room of the Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, as it sails off the South African coast. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. This day turned out much better than expected. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. After the required decompression runtimes, the divers surfaced, and the team returned to shore. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? READ MORE: Why Nobody Remembers America's Worst Maritime Disaster. All three divers were ecstatic and eager to make the most of the prevailing conditions; the second dive was scheduled for the following day. [16][11][17][18] He stated that he left the ship first to arrange for a rescue effort, and then supervised the rescue from a helicopter because "the batteries on the crew's walkie-talkies had died, meaning that he had no communications with his crew or with other rescue craft". The day of the first dive had dawned. The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast in 2012, killing 32 people.

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