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While we were busy on one hand throwing the boats they went the other way and left, says Nikolaou. 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. If some people like to stay, they can stay. By Philip G Van Rensburg. [5][6] Thirteen of the sixteen were South African Air Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted 225 passengers off the deck. / Updated May 22, 2010 / 12:42 PM PDT 20 PHOTOS . Reports indicate that at around 21:30 off the Wild Coast of the Transkei, the Oceanus Cruise ship lost its power following an explosion in the engine room. The ship was built in France and owned by a Greek cruise ship company. Through the confusion,the captain somehow made it into a lifeboat before everyone else had made it off. I would avoid any cruise that involves a Greek ship! After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. 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. This page is not available in other languages. 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. "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.". 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 . Havent you forgotten, sir, that all those glass windows are closed? a passenger gently reminded him. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours. 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. 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. 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. [citation needed]. Avranas at the time defended his actions, saying he left the ship to direct rescue operations. In 1976, she was acquired by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and registered under the name of Oceanos.[2]. Life seems to have been unaware that immediately after Silent Smiths death in 1915, the Lima News had identified the man as one Michael McKenna. A 2:20 a.m., the last portion of the Titanic disappeared between the waves. On schedule, the shallow-water backup team left the boat and descended toward the decompressing divers. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members . "A lot of this is candidly still more lore than law," says Miller Shealy, a maritime law professor at the Charleston School of Law. The Oceanos lies at a depth between 92m and 97m, about 5km offshore, on the western edge of the mighty Agulhas current. I wouldnt recommend this wreck to anyone but the best technical divers who really know what theyre doing.. [2] Usually, there would have been a "sail-away" party on deck. All Rights Reserved. The sewage and water systems had their one way "check valves" removed and not replaced. Then, about two years ago, South African technical divers Barry Coleman and Brett Hawton decided it was time to revisit the Oceanos. The American inquiry was only slightly harsher in its judgment. 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. This window period, although based on unscientific information provided by maritime vessels in the area, falls in May and December. [20][21], Dateline NBC aired a documentary of the incident on 23 May 2010. Most have heard the story, the sinking of the OCEANOS with 571 passengers and crew on board, none of whom suffered . A captain and his crew needlessly endangered the lives of those on board. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. The rescue featured in episode 4 of Shockwave, first aired 21 December 2007. Moving toward the bow, bad visibility and a substantially more damaged part of the wreck greeted the divers. STOCKHOLM - Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. is University of Washington a good school. 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. The generators had been shorted, and the supply of power to the engines had been severed. (Schettino insisted the ship sailed close to shore to salute other mariners and give passengers a good view.) Oceanos was very poorly maintained while simultaneously operating in one of the most dangerous and rough areas of the oceans. Legal proceedings. The MV Oceanos was a 153 meter passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. 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. The notorious master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. 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. Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mysterywith no shortage of conflicting accounts. Once complete, the team focused on preparing for the dives. Updated: April 12, 2023 | Original: November 12, 2020. "When they go bad, they're evil," Shealy says. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about the sinking, titled The Oceanos Tragedy. Captains Uncourageous: Abandoning Ship Long Seen As A Crime