Captain of cruise ship that ran aground off Italy arrested: report

[hunter]

13. Reminiscent of cruise ship Oceanos off South Africa, August 1991

The ship's officers and crew quietly packed their bags and abandoned ship, leaving it up to the ship's recreation leaders and entertainment staff to supervise the evacuation of everyone else.

Realizing the fate of the ship, the crew fled in panic, neglecting to close the lower deck portholes, which is standard policy during emergency procedures. No alarm was raised. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they themselves witnessed the first signs of flooding in the lower decks. At this stage, eyewitness accounts reveal that many of the crew, including Captain Avranas, were already packed and ready to depart, seemingly unconcerned with the safety of the passengers...

Avranas stated, "When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. Abandon is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos

True, the dirtbag owners of these ships are often quick to blame their employees, but it goes both ways. Irresponsible owners are likely to hire irresponsible executive officers. Anyone with a shred of self-respect wouldn't want the job.