The laws around a captain abandoning their ship explained after Costa Concordia documentary

After Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, Netflix’s documentary about the Costa Concordia, there is some confusion over why captains aren’t allowed to abandon their ship. Here’s a full explanation of the very strict laws.

The documentary retells the January 2012 tragedy, when 32 people sadly died after an Italian cruise ship crashed into some rocks near Giglio Island. This created a 53-metre gash in the hull, which flooded the engine room and cut off the ship’s power.

It took 48 minutes for the captain to sound the emergency alarm, and he was found guilty of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and abandoning his ship, and was sentenced to 16 years in jail.

In a transcript from the disaster, Italian Coast Guard Captain Gregorio De Falco famously ordered Captain Francesco Schettino to get back on board and coordinate the evacuation after he disembarked.

“Right. You are now going back on board. You are going to go back up the rope ladder, return to the bridge and co-ordinate operations,” he said. “This is an order. Now I am in command. You have declared the abandoning of a ship and are going to co-ordinate the rescue from the bridge. There are already dead bodies.” Schettino refused.

Under some countries’ maritime laws, a captain abandoning a ship is an extremely serious crime which, as shown by the Costa Concordia disaster, can result in jail time.

Credit: Netflix

The laws around a captain abandoning their ship explained, after the Costa Concordia disaster

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Under Article 1097 of the Italian Navigation Code, a captain who doesn’t leave their vessel last can face up to two years in prison. This penalty increases to three to 12 years if the abandonment results in loss of life or catastrophic harm, which is why Captain Schettino was sentenced.

However, different countries have different rules, and there isn’t one global law that a captain must “go down with the ship”.

Most maritime laws state that the captain has a duty to coordinate the evacuation procedures and ensure the safety of everyone on board, but it’s only some countries that have laws stating a captain must not abandon their ship without ensuring everyone else is evacuated first, including Spain, Greece and Italy.

Finnish Maritime Law also states that the captain must do everything they can to protect those on board and can’t leave unless there is reasonable hope the ship can be saved, while South Korean law requires captains to rescue themselves last, too.

There are no explicit laws on this in the UK or US, but captains can be charged with negligence or manslaughter if they don’t coordinate the evacuation, and this causes loss of life.

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Featured image credit: Netflix