What a cruise ship helmsman is and why he was blamed for the Costa Concordia disaster

After watching Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, Netflix’s new documentary about the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, people are confused about what a helmsman is. Here’s what it means, and his role in the tragedy.

On 13th January, 2012, the cruise ship crashed into some rocks near Giglio Island, Italy, on the first night of its seven-day Mediterranean tour. This created a 53-metre gash in the hull, which slowly flooded the ship and cut off the power.

32 people lost their lives in the tragedy and the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, was convicted of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and abandoning ship, and sentenced to 16 years in jail. But he blamed the helmsman for the disaster.

Credit: Netflix

What a helmsman is, and his role on board the Costa Concordia

The helmsman is the member of a ship’s crew whose job it is to steer the ship, controlling which direction it’s going in. On big vessels, this is done under the orders of the captain. The Costa Concordia helmsman was an Indonesian man called Jacob Rusli Bin, and he had been working in that role for Costa Cruises for many years.

As explained in Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, the head waiter asked the captain to do a salute as his sister and mother lived on Giglio Island, meaning they would sail beside the island and sound the horns.

So, Captain Schettino asked the helmsman to steer the ship towards Giglio, as he was the one in charge of steering. At the last minute, he then asked Jacob Rusli Bin to steer away from the Island after realising they were getting too close. However, he steered the ship in the opposite direction.

Credit: Netflix

Captain Schettino blamed the helmsman for the disaster

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In court, Schettino claimed that there wouldn’t have been a crash if the helmsman had listened to the order correctly and steered away from the rocks. It took him 13 seconds to correct his mistake and steer the ship in the other direction.

“If it weren’t for the helmsman’s error, to not position the tiller to the left… the swerve [toward the reef] and the collision wouldn’t have happened,” the captain said.

Investigators said there may have been a language barrier, but a maritime expert ultimately told the court that the helmsman’s mistake and slow reaction didn’t cause the disaster.

“The helmsman was 13 seconds late in executing the manoeuvre, but the crash would have happened anyway,” Italian naval Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said.

Credit: Netflix

The helmsman was given a much shorter sentence than the captain

Because experts testified that the disaster would have happened anyway, Jacob Rusli Bin was only sentenced to one year and eight months for his part in the tragedy.

He accepted a plea bargain after being charged with multiple counts of manslaughter, negligence, and causing a shipwreck, which meant he received this reduced sentence. As it was under three years, the sentence was automatically suspended under Italian law, and he never spent any time in prison.

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Featured image credit: Netflix