Since the recent wreck of the cruise ship Concordia, much has been made of the captain’s role in causing the maritime disaster. Attention has increasingly begun to focus on how Concordia’s captain abandoned his post as the ship went down and passengers and crew engaged in chaotic efforts to evacuate the sinking vessel and save themselves.
As long as records have chronicled human sea voyages, the accepted course of action for a captain, or Ship’s Master, has been to take charge of all situations and work to save his ship, crew, and passengers when the ship is in distress. There’s no requirement that a captain go down with a sinking ship, only that he remain until everyone else has been safely evacuated.
The Merchant Marine Officers’ Handbook states that a captain should be the last man to leave his vessel. The Italian code imposes a prison sentence of up to 12 years on a captain who abandons his vessel in the time of its distress. Captain Francesco Schettino of the Concordia now faces charges carrying just that possible sentence.
Job descriptions for ships’ captains, including cruise ship captains, maintain that the captain is responsible for charting safe navigational courses, ensuring adherence to responsible safety procedures, overseeing the safety of his ship, crew, passengers, and cargo, and taking charge of all situations that could affect their well being.
The captain of the Concordia failed to discharge that duty. Indeed, witness accounts indicate that he abandoned his duty precipitously once danger threatened. His abandonment of his post might have increased the dangers to passengers and crew of a poorly coordinated evacuation effort.
Injured passengers and crew, and those who lost loved ones in the disaster on the Tyrrhenian Sea, deserve just compensation for their trauma and losses. The captain, First Officer, and cruise line might all be at fault in the matter. The help of skilled maritime lawyers should help victims of the accident who are seeking justice and answers in this tragic case.
The Concordia disaster has already been compared to the Titanic disaster, to which it does in fact bear some striking similarities. Let’s hope that the tragic consequences of the negligent actions of the Concordia’s captain serve as warnings to other Ships’ Masters that will stave off such disasters for at least another 100 years.