After ramming into the sea floor, the Oceanos slipped silently beneath the waves. On one occasion the 200-liter drum we used as a marker buoy was pulled down to 34m by the current. Some countries, like Italy, have included it in national laws. Smith now knew the Titanic was doomed. "He deeply regrets not being with his crew. [citation needed] An inflatable had to be launched to rescue some passengers who panicked and jumped into the water. Search and Rescue contacted the ship a few minutes after 10:00 p.m., but Schettino didnt tell them what had happened for about 20 more minutes. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Jim Staples, a captain for 20 years, who spoke Wednesday from a 1,000-foot cargo vessel he was captaining near New Orleans, said captains are duty-bound to stay with the ship until the situation is hopeless. The moment was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as the "Birkenhead drill." There was no reply to either. Several witnesses claimed to have seen him in the water. 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. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. There was no stopping the flooding and no hope for the Oceanos sinking. "[10], Captain Avranas received extensive media coverage as an example of unprofessional behaviour whilst in command. According to Boltman, "later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi [sic] even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going. Steve Minne and Johan Swart confirmed the formidable force of the current. He was 46 years old. Rear Adm. Richard Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy called Schettino's actions "abhorrent" and a violation of an unwritten code. At 12:05 a.m. Smith gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and alert the passengers. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger crash-landed a flight in the Hudson River in 2009, he twice walked the plane to make sure no one was left onboard before leaving himself. (Schettino insisted the ship sailed close to shore to salute other mariners and give passengers a good view.) But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding". 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. "[9] They were among the last to be rescued. Having reached the limit of Bretts safe air supply and time underwater, the divers returned to the anchor line to begin their ascent. 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. About 2:00 p.m., the Oceanos begins its vertical descent. 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 South African Marines land on the ship from naval helicopters. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Known for. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Greg Daugherty, alongtime magazine editor and frequent contributor to HISTORY.com, has also written on historical topics for Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and other outlets. Moving round to the port side propeller, over the hull, and back to the deck amidships, they headed off on their scooters to the bridge and bow sections to make a survey of possible penetration points for the second dive. [25], "Oceanos" redirects here. At about 15:30 the following day, the Oceanos could hold her head up no longer and sank. The ships were used on the Marseilles Madagascar Mauritius service. With holes in its walls, loose hull plates, and missing parts that control the flow of water, it looked pretty neglected. It is this forward section of the wreck that incurred the wrath of the ocean floor as the bow slammed into the seabed. [2], At the time of the accident, Yiannis Avranas had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. Then he returned and oversaw the operation from the air. In a matter of hours, more than 1,500 passengers and crew would be dead, including Smith himself. 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 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. Is there confession in the Armenian Church? How did the Oceanos go into the sea? The image of a captain staying with a sinking vessel has recurred again and again, in literature and real life. He hit the bottom, got back up, side of the fault and was swallowed by the sea forever.. Other information if you google or youtube it. Maritime experts said the tradition of a captain standing by his ship isn't established in international maritime law. What happened to the cruise ship Oceanos? Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Francesco Schettino Sparks Outrage". [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. "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. In August 2005, a Titanic wreckage expedition found two large, extraordinarily well-preserved sections of the bottom of the ship's hull. 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. He says he lowered the switches, stopped the power generators and the ships engines. Smith, who evacuated the ship women and children first until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it. Video footage shows their progress as pale rays of sunlight filtered through the corridor windows, throwing subtle illuminations across the dark interior. It was abject cowardice.". For many years, seasoned technical diver, Barry Coleman, has had one consuming desire: to dive the Oceanos. Epirotiki Line. 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. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The decision was to be his last as captain of the Oceanos. "It is not just unseemly for a captain to leave a ship," Shealy says. Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos. I am the captain. Two more were added to these later. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. By the next morning rescuers found Oceanos adrift just off Coffee Bay, on the Wild Coast. He said the export to the electric generators had been opened by a surge and water was pouring in. Although Barry, Paul, and Brett would dive to the Oceanos as a team, they were all on different equipment. Something strong wind, something the helicopter pilot, they didnt let me down he said. 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. Barry and Paul were on closed-circuit rebreathers, a Buddy Inspiration rebreather, and a CIS-Lunar MK5P rebreather, respectively. ", "Costa Concordia Tragedy: Capt. Most have heard the story, the sinking of the OCEANOS with 571 passengers and crew on board, none of whom suffered . The captain went up to the third of these. 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. 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. [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". Steve said, We had to hold onto the anchor line with all our strength. 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. In 2022, Moss Hills who later became a cruise director was interviewed by Jane Garvey for BBC Radio 4's series Life Changing. 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. After five days of staying at the hotel, the other Greek sailors with the assistance of the Greek consular authorities also escaped. 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. Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. The Oceanos arrived in South Africa in 1991. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members . I knew then we were soon going.. In more than 40 years at sea he had rarely been involved in an accident and never held accountable for one. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. [1] He was married to British national Davina Avrana.[3]. In 1991, Capt. It is believed[by whom?] 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. But the report noted that some passengers testified that they didnt hear the alarm to proceed to the lifeboats. Thomas Andrews, the Titanics head designer, reported that his inspection revealed flooding in at least five of the Titanics 16 watertight compartments. 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 ship underwent several name changes, including Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess, and finally, in 1976, under the . Towards the end, passengers had to jump into . The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. 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. All 571 passengers and crew survived. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. is University of Washington a good school. Schettino argued that he fell into a lifeboat because of how the ship was listing to one side, but this argument proved unconvincing. Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. "Abandon is for everybody. 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. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? I would know him even without his beard.. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. 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 wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunctionit was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors. The ship's captain, Yiannis Avranas, had 30 years' experience at sea. An often asked question is what happened to the captain of the oceans at this stage, eyewitness accounts reveal that many of the crew, including Captain Avranias, were already packed and ready to depart, seemingly unconcerned with the safety of the passengers. Diesel, emanating from the wreck for nearly 12 years, was visible around the marker buoy an indication that the entire water column lay still. 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. dontpanik, July 2, 2007 in What Ever Happened To..??? "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. That is unbelievable!! Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. 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. After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Reinforced when Capt. The captain broadcasted a distress signal as he tried to steer the ship towards shore in order for rescuers to reach them. After the sinking, Avranas attracted extensive media coverage, often being vilified and used as an example of poor professional behaviour while in command. Yonhap/EPA/Landov The nearest, RMS Carpathia, replied that it would change course and hurry to the Titanics position. On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. 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. 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. "In Anglo-American law, you would lose your license and make yourself liable.". We were preparing to eat when the first mechanic warned us. 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. -. [7][failed verification] The NPR radio show and podcast Snap Judgment featured an account of the sinking by Moss Hills. ", Report: Captain claims he "tripped" into lifeboat. A more recent example is Robert Royer, the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Alaska in 2010. Industries; War and Militaries; Family members of passengers on a South Korean ferry that sank look at lists of survivors on Wednesday. The rescue featured in episode 4 of Shockwave, first aired 21 December 2007. As in August, throughout the two-week period of the expedition, they only managed to reach the wreck on two occasions with a maximum bottom time of eight minutes. On August 3, 1991, Oceanos set sail for East London, South Africa and headed north for Durban, led by Captain Yiannis Avranas. Davina Avrana. "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.". "Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. He is being held in house arrest as prosecutors prepare criminal charges. 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. International standards for sea captains vary. 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. REBELLION RESEARCH ADVISORS, L.P. IS A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISER AND NOT FOR PROFIT EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH THINK TANK. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. The helicopter was used to survey conditions around the wreck that lies at a distance of 9.5km from Hole in the Wall. 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. [9][11][16][17] Avranas's emergency management was again widely cited after the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012. [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. NAVY DIVER SAYS OCEANOS CAPTAIN DEMANDED TO BE ONE OF FIRST RESCUED. [9], A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. EAST LONDON, South Africa . In the time of need, however, the crew found that everything was useless. It was August 3, 1991 when Rosemary Roe saw the dishes slipping on the table during dinner. This is an amazing story -- if they're doing a new story maybe something new has happened -- like maybe the captain will finally be . Back in the early 1990's came an incredible event, most now, don't remember or know about. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images 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. [2] Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck. 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 wouldnt recommend this wreck to anyone but the best technical divers who really know what theyre doing.. Allen dismissed that idea, saying the captain's knowledge of his ship is crucial in an emergency. Given that the officers of the vessel had all fled in . We meet him in Piraeus, where he lives after his retirement. The World witnessed an ugly scene back on 03 August 1991 when MTS Oceanos sunk in 1991 because of uncontrolled floods. From Times Wire Services. The crew said that likely saved their lives, because the ship's emergency beacon didn't work. On open-circuit scuba, the exhaled breath is not fed back into the system but is expelled and is no longer useable. The unethical, unprofessional prick are working as a Captain of a ferry in Greece. The expedition required diligent and intense preparation. Through the confusion,the captain somehow made it into a lifeboat before everyone else had made it off. Click here to reload the page in order to enable certain features. Several estimated it was no more than five miles away. Schettino also didnt immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. 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? "When they go bad, they're evil," Shealy says. Captain of White Star Liner, RMS Titanic, Commander Edward J. Smith, c. 1911. In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab sets off to hunt the whale, leaving the capable Starbuck in charge. The technology means that the rebreather diver uses significantly less gas, has reduced nitrogen uptake, and subsequently fewer decompression requirements. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. He immediately ordered an evacuation of all passengers and crew. [8] They were assisted by the lifeboats of the Dutch cargo ship Nedlloyd Mauritius, which had responded to the distress call. At any time when you have an incident similar to Concordia, there is nevera single causal factor, says Brad Schoenwald, a senior marine inspector at the United States Coast Guard. I sure hope he's no longer a ship's captain anywhere! Has the old idea that captains should not abandon ship itself been abandoned? Everyone on board the cruise ship Oceanos was safe and accounted for Monday, but survivors angrily accused the . hide caption. 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). The sinking of Oceanos. Legal proceedings. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Oceanos was briefly featured in the 1985 film Sky High and with another Epirotiki ship, Apollon XI, in the 1986 film Hardbodies 2. 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. Since the year of her sinking, the Oceanos has remained in solitary confinement, guarded by the Agulhas current and the secluded landscape of the Transkei. Fleeing in a lifeboat, they were told by the captain of a rescue ship to go back and help their passengers. [citation needed], Once the engines stopped, the ship began to roll so badly that in the lounge, which is where the passengers had gathered, crockery and cutlery began sliding off the tables and potted plants fell over. He had set sail for a sandy area at four miles, which he had found on the map. Hills organized the orderly evacuation of passengers by the helicopters, later reporting that Avranas was among the first to leave at this point. The Greek government is not doing anything about the incident. Captain Yiannis Avranas told reporters in Durban that he did not desert the ship but left to coordinate rescue efforts from shore. The American inquiry was only slightly harsher in its judgment. It remains so potent because of the almost mythic authority invested in ship captains, Allen suggests. On the front page was a Kostas Mitropoulos cartoon that lampooned the Captain, it read: Where to take you captain?the helicopter pilot asked him as he rescued him from the sinking ship named Ocean of failures. I heard (former) Captain Avranas was stripped of his papers and sent to jailbut maybe his sentence was suspended??? The Oceanos lost power following a leak in the engine room's sea chest. Whether or not Captain Francesco Schettino was trying to impress his girlfriend is debatable. 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. 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. 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). hide caption. The captain still had some hope of averting total disaster. In Greece the case was referred to the High Council of Maritime Accidents of the Ministry of Maritime.

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