Yiannis Avranas (born ca. 1940)Barry James,

',

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

, 8 August 1991 is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

former

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

who commanded the

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

Oceanos MTS ''Oceanos'' was a French-built and Greek-owned cruise ship that sank in 1991 when she suffered uncontrolled flooding. Her captain, Yiannis Avranas, and some of the crew were convicted of negligence for fleeing the ship without helping the ...

'' when she sank off the Wild Coast of the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, on Sunday 4 August 1991. In 1994, his English wife Davina published a book about the sinking, titled ''The Oceanos Tragedy''.

Background

At the time of the accident, Yiannis Avranas had been an officer for twenty years and a seaman for thirty. He was married to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

national Davina Avrana.

''Oceanos'' sinking

On 3 August 1991, the ''Oceanos'' set out from

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

and headed to

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. She headed into winds and swells. The storm worsened, and at approximately 21:30

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

, while off the Wild Coast of the

, a muffled explosion was heard. The ''Oceanos'' lost power following a leak in the engine room's sea chest. The

chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...

reported to Captain Avranas that water was entering the hull and flooding the

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

room. The generators were shut down because the rising water would have

short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

ed them. The ship was left adrift. Realising the fate of the ship, the crew reportedly fled in panic, neglecting the standard procedure of closing the lower deck

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicles ...

s. No alarm was raised. Passengers remained ignorant of the events taking place until they 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. Finding the ship's bridge abandoned, Moss Hills, an on-board entertainer, used the radio phone to broadcast a

mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...

until another ship answered. The

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

, along with the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

, launched a mission to airlift the passengers and crew to the nearby settlements of The Haven and Hole in the Wall, about south of

Coffee Bay Coffee Bay ( af, Koffiebaai) is a town on the Wild Coast Region, Eastern Cape, Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is located about 250 kilometres south of the city of Durban and has a population of 258 people. The town is ...

. Hills organized the orderly evacuation of passengers by the helicopters, later reporting that Avranas was among the first to leave at this point. He and fellow entertainer Julian Butler"Cruise ship sinking"
YouTube. 6 July 2006. directed the efforts of the entertainment staff - including Robin Boltman - to assist them. According to Boltman, "later in the morning, Captain Avarnasi 'sic''even contacted me from shore to ask how things were going."The Star, '
Crew abandoned us
'', 5 August 1991 They were among the last to be rescued.

Position of Avranas

Avranas claimed that he left the ship first in order to arrange for a rescue effort,Jerelyn Eddings
South Africa probes cause of luxury liner's sinking
Baltimore Sun, 6 August 1991 and then supervised it from a helicopter. According to the ''

'', "Avranas said he had known when he left the ship that there were 170 passengers and crew still aboard ut this wasthe only way oensure the safety of all those aboard", furthermore "after checking the situation from the shore, he said, he flew back to the ship on a helicopter, intending to go back on board. But the weather was so bad that the helicopter crew advised against boarding". Avranas was quoted in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' as saying, "When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. Abandonment is for everybody, if some people want to stay, they can stay."

Position of Epirotiki Lines

Captain Alevizos Klaudatos, head of

Epirotiki Line Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels. Foundation Anastassios Potamianos began his first shipping venture in 1850 transporting cargo and passengers along the Danu ...

, was quoted in ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' as saying: "Of course the crew members assigned to the boats have to enter first in order to assist the embarkation of the passengers", "as regards the captain abandoning the vessel, this is untrue and he has maintained his position throughout in assisting the rescue in the most effective way".

Legal proceedings

A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster. He was never incarcerated and Epirotiki gave him command of a ferry until his retirement.

Treatment in media

Prior to the events of January 1991, Avranas had apparently given no interview to the media. After the sinking, Avranas attracted extensive media coverage, often being vilified and used as an example of poor professional behaviour while in command.BBC
Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship?
18 January 2012 Avranas's emergency management was again widely cited after the ''Costa Concordia'' disaster in 2012.

References

External links

*
Career Overboard?
',

, 11 August 1991 *Barry James,
A Captain's Tale: 'The Rescue Was Perfect - Everybody Is Safe'
',

, 8 August 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Avranas, Yiannis 1940s births Greek sailors Living people