what happened to the captain of the oceanos

Unable to spend sufficient time on the wreck, the Camera 7 team was forced to deploy a remote, surface-controlled camera to acquire the footage required for their investigation. Share; Posted May 23, 2010. Yiannis Avranas (born ca. Then 15 minutes later, the bubbles returned, and there was a sigh of relief. No alarm was raised. He said he supervised the . But whatever relief Smith might have felt at that moment was quickly shattered. Before the sailing they were given for inspection. He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. But his or her responsibility extends to executing the evacuation plan that all passenger ships are required to have and practice. Francesco Schettino, were charged with various crimes. En route to Durban, the Oceanos cruise ship set out from the port of East London on Saturday, August 3, 1991, into 40-knot winds and nine-meter swells. [2] Divers have visited her, but strong currents make the dive difficult. The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. [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". 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. In 1991, Yiannis Avranas, the captain of a Greek cruise liner, was also strongly criticised after leaving the ship as it started to sink off the South African coast. Then he returned and oversaw the operation from the air. At about 9:30p.m., a muffled explosion was heard and Oceanos lost power. The divers had penetrated 70m into the wreck with the aid of the scooters. It has been reported that the ship was in a state of neglected maintenance with loose hull plates and an unfitted ventilation pipe. Reinforced when Capt. At sea he had no kindness. 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? "Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. When they bail early, everything falls apart. "[9] They were among the last to be rescued. MACHINE LEARNING INVESTING IS SPECULATIVE BY NATURE. I wouldnt recommend this wreck to anyone but the best technical divers who really know what theyre doing.. After evacuating, the 105 meter long ship began to sink. 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. 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. The captain of the Oceanos was alerted to the problem after receiving reports of water entering some of the cabins on board. Other information if you google or youtube it. All Rights Reserved. "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. A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. Christos Nikolaou did not know what was said about him and his colleagues at the time. After Capt. At this stage, eyewitness accounts reveal that many of the crew, including Captain Avranas, were already packed and ready to depart. Captain of White Star Liner, RMS Titanic, Commander Edward J. Smith, c. 1911. The American inquiry was only slightly harsher in its judgment. He had also left the radio operator on board, and they were talking. 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. [5] They used the radio phone to broadcast a mayday distress call until Moss received a response.[7]. 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. On August 3, 1991, Oceanos set sail for East London, South Africa and headed north for Durban, led by Captain Yiannis Avranas. [2] Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck. As soon as we reached seven degrees, we decided to lower the boats and start evacuation. [5], No alarm or announcement had been given that the ship was in trouble; with other entertainers working on the cruise, Moss Hills a musician from Zimbabwe and former member of Four Jacks and a Jill who had been performing with his wife Tracy in the lounge, explored below decks, discovered that Oceanos appeared to be sinking, and were informed by the cruise director, Lorraine Betts, that the captain had given the order to abandon ship and some crew had already left in a lifeboat. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991. It was also around 12:45 a.m. that crewmen lowered the first of the Titanics lifeboats to the ocean surface. The objective was to show how the application of experience and established diving technique to a near-insurmountable challenge could safely lead to success. "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. MTS Oceanos - Wikipedia The sewage and water systems had their one way "check valves" removed and not replaced. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. As provided for by Greek Maritime Law pursuant to Article 223: Captain of non-departures last during the abandonment of a dangerous ship, punishable by imprisonment and penalty of money . [5][6] Thirteen of the sixteen were South African Air Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted 225 passengers off the deck. Davina Avrana. After rescuing passengers and crew followed by interrogations in Durban, South Africa. A wide range of diverse considerations had to be taken care of, both personally and as a team. The generators had been shorted, and the supply of power to the engines had been severed. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? Captain Yiannis Avranas who left passengers to die? Sometimes we were almost horizontal going down. Fleeing in a lifeboat, they were told by the captain of a rescue ship to go back and help their passengers. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. 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. Blowing in the same direction as the current, a strong northeasterly wind would slowly increase the rate of flow beyond that conducive for diving. The 402 passengers and 179 crew members all survived . Costa Concordia disaster | Collision, Rescue, Salvage, & Facts "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. The helicopter was used to survey conditions around the wreck that lies at a distance of 9.5km from Hole in the Wall. 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. Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and of abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when it suffered uncontrolled flooding.MTS Oceanos. The ocean had reached the point where the sea was 81 meters deep. In more than 40 years at sea he had rarely been involved in an accident and never held accountable for one. We were preparing to eat when the first mechanic warned us. All 571 passengers and crew survived. 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. While we were busy on one hand throwing the boats they went the other way and left, says Nikolaou. The South African Navy and Air Force launched a massive seven-hour mission in which 16 helicopters were used to airlift the remainder of the passengers and crew to the nearby settlements of The Haven and Hole in the Wall, about 10km south of Coffee Bay. 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. 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. On one occasion the 200-liter drum we used as a marker buoy was pulled down to 34m by the current. What Was the Titanics Captain Doing While the Ship Sank. 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. [25], "Oceanos" redirects here. 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. 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. He hit the bottom, got back up, side of the fault and was swallowed by the sea forever.. The expedition required diligent and intense preparation. "He deeply regrets not being with his crew. The guitarist who saved hundreds of people on a sinking cruise liner : "Go back on board!". In a matter of hours, more than 1,500 passengers and crew would be dead, including Smith himself. 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. The Victorian notion that a captain should actually go down with the ship has become archaic. 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. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? 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. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. The reaction of the first engineer sabotaged the captains original plan. Some early newspaper reports, allegedly supported by eyewitnesses, say he had shot himself with a pistol, though few historians give them any credence. "They were to stand at attention on the sinking ship until the women and children their wives and children were led off the boats.". The moment was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as the "Birkenhead drill." A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. Edward J. Smith - Titanic, Facts & Death - Biography Barry Coleman and the team have accomplished is an amazing feat they have succeeded in conducting two fully controlled dives on the Oceanos. There is some film on YOUTUBE showing the sinking of the Oceanos. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. What is glucosamine and fish oil good for? Captain Accused of Leaving Passengers on Sinking Ship While the ship could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments, depending on their location, five tipped into catastrophic territory. Five divers, including the late Rehan Bouwer, made four attempts to reach the Oceanos, but only succeeded twice, and then only for a matter of minutes. "[5] Hills reportedly rescued Avranas' dog and released his canary. Three years later she wrote in her book entitled, The Tragedy of the Oceanos: Christos Nikolaou, an Oceanist, had a relative who was an executive at the Panhellenic Federation. Employer. 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. All 571 people on board were saved, following one of the worlds most dramatic and successful rescue operations of its kind. 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? [5], Earlier repairs to the waste disposal system had not been completed, which meant that a vital ventilation pipe which ran through the watertight aft bulkhead and the non-return valves were not replaced. READ MORE: Why Nobody Remembers America's Worst Maritime Disaster. 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. [citation needed]. The chief engineer reported to Captain Avranas that water was entering the hull and flooding the generator room. Ralph White/Corbis/Getty Images. After twenty-seven minutes at 90m and thirty-four minutes on run time, an orange submersible marker buoy broke the surface, and the deep-water back divers bailed into the water. The unfitted ventilation pipe was said to have left a 10cm hole in the watertight bulkhead between the generator and the sewerage tank. Even before the journey started, the ship had already started to wear. He made the wrong choice. Barry Coleman was yelling, Its a good day to dive, I can feel it in my bones! Well, a good day it certainly was! EAST LONDON, South Africa . On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. What happened to the captain and crew of the Oceanos? Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. 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. The 9 Worst Cruise Ship Disasters | Oyster.com Bubbles moved toward the stern and then back again to amidships. Towards the end, passengers had to jump into . Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. Tonight on Dateline(NBC) they are doing a special about the sinking of the Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, and the survivors from 8-4-91. In August 1991 I was a junior partner in the maritime . / AP. [22] The show Extreme Weather: The Survivors featured a segment on the sinking. All Rights Reserved. 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. The Oceanos thrust her stern into the air and slid nose first into the sea. 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. Smith, who evacuated the ship women and children first until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it. [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. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck portholes. "Some people panic, but a short time later they collect their senses and do the right thing," Allen said. When the team arrived at the wreck marker buoys, it was evident that the current was almost non-existent and the wind and swell had all but disappeared. The incident came two years after Francesco Schettino, the captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, was charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship charges he denies. During the ensuing trial, prosecutors came up with a tabloid-ready explanation: The married ship captain had sailed it so close to the island to impress a much younger Moldovan dancer with whom he was having an affair. The rescue featured in episode 4 of Shockwave, first aired 21 December 2007. The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse - History Rear Adm. Richard Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy called Schettino's actions "abhorrent" and a violation of an unwritten code. Do you think anyone was weighing in the boats.. On the morning of July 12, 1952, Forges Chantiers de la Gironde launched the last of four sister ships in Bordeaux, France, under the name of Jean Laborde. that after a series of freak waves slammed against the ship, the pipe's shell plating burst open and began filling the compartment with seawater. They accused the crew and the captain, but if there werent good moves with so much inconvenience and so much wave who would be saved? The weather forecast was predicting a strong northeasterly wind by morning, a factor that could easily mean the end of the expedition. Maritime experts said the tradition of a captain standing by his ship isn't established in international maritime law. [8] They were assisted by the lifeboats of the Dutch cargo ship Nedlloyd Mauritius, which had responded to the distress call. 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. 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. Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship? - BBC News [4] Boltman told a newspaper: "Later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi (sic) even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going. He didnt give up though. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? After the sinking, Avranas attracted extensive media coverage, often being vilified and used as an example of poor professional behaviour while in command. All Rights Reserved. An iceberg, sir, First Officer William Murdoch replied. The captain of the Oceanos was an experienced seaman Yiannis Avranas, who had been sailing the oceans for 30 years, including 20 years as an officer. Surviving wireless operator Harold Bride, a more reliable witness, said hed seen Smith dive from the bridge into the sea. Others said he was swept off by a wave orhaving been swept offswam back to the Titanic to meet his end.

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what happened to the captain of the oceanos