what happened to the captain of the oceanos

Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. What happened to the crew and captain? Under charter by TFC Tours,[1] Oceanos initially delayed by a bomb threat set out from East London, South Africa on 3 August 1991, and headed for Durban. The international and some Greek media condemned the attitude of Captain Yiannis Avranas. 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. He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement. "Ahab is a great example in the sense that he knows a captain should go down with his ship," says Wyn Kelley, a Melville scholar at MIT. Is the Oceanos still at the bottom of the ocean? / Updated May 22, 2010 / 12:42 PM PDT 20 PHOTOS . 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":rolleyes: I don't know what ever happened to him. For a villain, there was J. Bruce Ismay, the White Star chairman, who got off in a lifeboat and was accused of pressuring Smith to maintain a reckless speed. A coast guard member angrily told him on the phone to Get back on board, damn it!a recorded sound bite that turned into a T-shirt slogan in Italy. Then 15 minutes later, the bubbles returned, and there was a sigh of relief. READ MORE: Why Nobody Remembers America's Worst Maritime Disaster. I just watched national geografic program about the Oceanos tragedy. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. Barry, Brett, and Paul disappeared below the surface. Industries; War and Militaries; The ship they spotted in the distance didnt answer, but several others did. The sinking is the subject of a song called "Oceanos" by Celtic rock band Coast. By Philip G Van Rensburg. Its captain was accused of manslaughter and abandoning the 4,200 passengers and crew on the night of the wreck. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck portholes. [5][6] Thirteen of the sixteen were South African Air Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted 225 passengers off the deck. 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. 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. Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore. Here's a link if you want to see a video of the story. The ocean had reached the point where the sea was 81 meters deep. 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. [5][23][24], The Oceanos wreck lies at a depth of between 92m (302ft) and 97m (318ft), about 5km (3.1mi) offshore. No alarm was raised. [4] Boltman told a newspaper: "Later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi (sic) even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going. None of the 571 passengers drowned. Cowardice comes in many forms, but there's a special sense of shame reserved for captains who abandon ship. Even before the journey started, the ship had already started to wear. Barry and Paul were on closed-circuit rebreathers, a Buddy Inspiration rebreather, and a CIS-Lunar MK5P rebreather, respectively. 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. Why did the captain go down with the ship? "When I order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," Avranas said. Yonhap/EPA/Landov There was no stopping the flooding and no hope for the Oceanos sinking. 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. Smith, who evacuated the ship women and children first until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it. The weather forecast was predicting a strong northeasterly wind by morning, a factor that could easily mean the end of the expedition. Schettino also didnt immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. She came to rest on her starboard side almost perpendicular to the coastline, with her bow facing seaward. Everyone who had been put into lifeboats was rescued by passing ships and remarkably no lives were lost. The crew called him a secretary. [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. The day of the first dive had dawned. [4] The storm worsened, and at approximately 21:30 UTC+2, while off the Wild Coast of the Transkei, a muffled explosion was heard. He made the wrong choice. The captain went up to the third of these. Michigan Senator William Alden Smith, who chaired the Senate investigative committee, charged that Captain Smiths indifference to danger was one of the direct and contributing causes of this unnecessary tragedy., But the senator also gave him credit for his manly bearing and his tender solicitude for the safety of women and little children as well as his willingness to die.. I have made a mess and practically the whole ship is flooding, Schettino told Ferrarini while the ship was sinking. Arriving at the dive site, the team was amazed by the conditions. [citation needed]. 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. The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yiannis_Avranas&oldid=1133434367, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 19:56. The ships were used on the Marseilles Madagascar Mauritius service. Jean Laborde went through many different owners and name changes (Jean Laborde, Mykinai, Ancona, Eastern Princess) in the succeeding decades. 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. 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. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. The last charge carries a potential sentence of 12 years in prison. Do you think anyone was weighing in the boats.. The moment was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as the "Birkenhead drill." [3] Entertainment manager Robin Boltman was credited with gathering the passengers in the lounge and playing music to calm them. The water steadily rose and flowed through the 10 cm hole in the bulkhead and into the waste disposal tank. A wide range of diverse considerations had to be taken care of, both personally and as a team. By God, you are right! Smith replied. The divers had penetrated 70m into the wreck with the aid of the scooters. MTS Oceanos was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. As soon as we reached seven degrees, we decided to lower the boats and start evacuation. It was August 3, 1991 when Rosemary Roe saw the dishes slipping on the table during dinner. In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab sets off to hunt the whale, leaving the capable Starbuck in charge. Brett was on twin set 36-litre open circuit back-gas, with two 12-liter side-mounted cylinders. Her bow hit the sand 92m below the surface, while more than 60m of her stern remained aloft; minutes later, she was gone. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. EAST LONDON, South Africa . He speaks five foreign languages, originally from Kasos, but was born in Egypt. Concern showed on everyones faces, but although an immense amount of planning, effort, and money is poured into conducting a deep-diving expedition, the safety of those involved is always the priority. The ship started taking on water, rapidly flooding the engine room. 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. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. Although only three divers made it to the wreck, it was the role of each team member that made it possible. [7][failed verification] The NPR radio show and podcast Snap Judgment featured an account of the sinking by Moss Hills. Captain Yiannis Avranas told reporters in Durban that he did not desert the ship but left to coordinate rescue efforts from shore. / AP. [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. [25], "Oceanos" redirects here. The ship's captain, Yiannis Avranas, had 30 years' experience at sea. 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. 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. Maritime experts say such manifestations of courage at sea far outnumber incidents in which captains saved themselves and left their passengers behind. He had also left the radio operator on board, and they were talking. Oceanos was briefly featured in the 1985 film Sky High and with another Epirotiki ship, Apollon XI, in the 1986 film Hardbodies 2. Oceanos is one of the documented tragedies ever to happen in the sea and following a probe by maritime authorities, the captain and his crew were found to . Two more were added to these later. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. They began launching the remaining lifeboats, with up to 90 people in each, but were unable to start their engines. The Costa Concordia was owned by Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of Carnival . Think of Bligh, or Queeg, or the autocratic captains who drive many of the novels and stories of Herman Melville. 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? This page is not available in other languages. The sense that captains are beyond the law that they are the law, or at least they were, during the age of sail is why they make such great bad guys. Captain Yiannis Avranas (born c. 1940) had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. Still others believed he had made it to an overturned lifeboat but lost his grip, possibly when one of the Titanics immense funnels broke loose and crashed into the water nearby. The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast in 2012, killing 32 people. Chopper pilot, Ian Osborne, lifted his Alouette helicopter into the air en route to the wreck site. A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. But is it realistic to expect skippers only human after all to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? Midday, the sea spills over the bow of Oceanos. After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunctionit was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors. At six in the morning the helicopters appeared. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Epirotiki Lines had lost two other ships within the three years preceding the sinking: the company's flagship Pegasus only two months before, and MV Jupiter, three years before. With hundreds of people on board, the ship springs a leak, then . The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, slammed into a reef on Friday, after Schettino made an unauthorized maneuver. It was also around 12:45 a.m. that crewmen lowered the first of the Titanics lifeboats to the ocean surface. We meet him in Piraeus, where he lives after his retirement. International standards for sea captains vary. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. "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. All Rights Reserved. INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK AND UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ARE NOT GUARANTEED. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. After evacuating, the 105 meter long ship began to sink. "Some people panic, but a short time later they collect their senses and do the right thing," Allen said. NAVY DIVER SAYS OCEANOS CAPTAIN DEMANDED TO BE ONE OF FIRST RESCUED. 1940) had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about . The ship was left adrift. : "Go back on board!". We strive for accuracy and fairness. In a matter of minutes, the occupants returned with a very favorable report on conditions. "The captain called the men to attention," says William Fowler, a maritime historian at Northeastern University. Lee Jun-Seok, who was one of the first to flee from the ferry as it sank on Wednesday. The Greek government is not doing anything about the incident. 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. TRY ASKING HOST DOUGhe usually knows those things. Outwardly, Smith seems to have kept up a brave front, appearing captain-like to the last, at least to most observers. Special Section: Italian Cruise DisasterCruise ship to port: It's just a blackoutPressure mounts on cruise ship divers. This is an amazing story -- if they're doing a new story maybe something new has happened -- like maybe the captain will finally be . 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 . After Capt. Unfortunately, conditions did not live up to expectations. Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. 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. [15], Prior to the events of January 1991, Avranas had apparently given no interview to the media. 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. What happened to the Italian cruise ship captain? Does anyone know of the current whereabouts of former Captain Yiannis Avranas of the doomed Oceanos? 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 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. Special Event: Q&A with Rudi Schreiner, President, Co-Founder & Co-Owner - AmaWaterways River Cruises, Q&A with Avoya Travel: Learn How to Turn Your Passion into Success by Becoming an Independent Travel Advisor. 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. On 3 August 1991, the Oceanos set out from East London, South Africa and headed to Durban. South Korean authorities have arrested Capt. But whatever relief Smith might have felt at that moment was quickly shattered. Epirotiki Line. The success of the 1988 cruise season in South Africa was the motivation for her return in 1991 on an eight-month charter for TFC Tours of Johannesburg. When they bail early, everything falls apart. Some early newspaper reports, allegedly supported by eyewitnesses, say he had shot himself with a pistol, though few historians give them any credence. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. Something strong wind, something the helicopter pilot, they didnt let me down he said. For many years, seasoned technical diver, Barry Coleman, has had one consuming desire: to dive the Oceanos. [9][11][16][17] Avranas's emergency management was again widely cited after the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012. The captain broadcasted a distress signal as he tried to steer the ship towards shore in order for rescuers to reach them. All Rights Reserved. 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. Schettino reportedly said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. ", the captain of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia. Captain Davina Avranas English wife aboard the ship with their daughter Faye. In 2022, Moss Hills who later became a cruise director was interviewed by Jane Garvey for BBC Radio 4's series Life Changing. "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.". "[10], Captain Avranas received extensive media coverage as an example of unprofessional behaviour whilst in command. Captain of MTS Oceanos. There is some film on YOUTUBE showing the sinking of the Oceanos. 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. Edward Smith went down with the Titanic, the notion that a captain must stay with his ship became part of folklore. 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. Meanwhile the extraction was completely broken, the engine room was filling water and tilting forward the ship. Passengers remained ignorant of the events until they witnessed the first signs of flooding on the lower decks. The impact on the Scole Rocks occurred at about 9:45 p.m. local time, and the first person to contact rescue officials about the ship was someone on the shore, according to the investigative report. Schettino should have remained on board "until the last passenger is accounted for," said Abelardo Pacheco, a Filipino captain who was held hostage for five months in Somalia and now heads a seafarers' training center in Manila. Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck with the ship's musicians and British . On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. And the second boat was only cooks. The American inquiry was only slightly harsher in its judgment. The Greek government is not doing anything about the incident. Maritime experts said the tradition of a captain standing by his ship isn't established in international maritime law. dontpanik, July 2, 2007 in What Ever Happened To..??? 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. 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 . . No matter what time I leave. After ramming into the sea floor, the Oceanos slipped silently beneath the waves. How does the braking system work in a car? The unethical, unprofessional prick are working as a Captain of a ferry in Greece. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. I wanted to go down to the deck, where they were left lying on the floor, covered with blankets, passengers and crew members who sang to get courage. The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger. 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.

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