On August 4th,1991, the captain of the cruise ship Oceanos, Yiannis Avranas, made a fateful decision. He chose to abandon his ship and its passengers in the middle of a storm off the coast of South Africa.
The decision was to be his last as captain of the Oceanos.
The Oceanos had been on its usual route along the South African coast when it encountered heavy rains and gale-force winds. The weather conditions became so severe that Avranas determined it best to abandon ship and hope for rescue from nearby vessels or helicopters.
Avranas ordered all passengers and crew aboard two lifeboats and then took command of one himself. As he headed for shore with those in his charge, he left behind another lifeboat containing 27 people who were unable to board due to overcrowding. Despite these dire circumstances, Avranas managed to get his boat safely ashore without any casualties.
The storm did not subside until several hours later when it was clear that no rescue would be necessary. It was only then that the passengers and crew returned to the Oceanos and discovered that Avranas had left them behind.
In the aftermath of this incident, Avranas faced considerable criticism. He was accused of abandoning his post as captain in order to save himself instead of ensuring everyone’s safety by remaining on board until help arrived. The Greek government also launched an investigation into what happened which ultimately exonerated him with regards to any criminal charges but did not clear him completely as he still faced public condemnation for his actions.
Avranas resigned from his position shortly after the incident and faded from public view thereafter. He later appeared in court in 2012 to testify against three former employees who had been charged with negligence in relation to the sinking of another cruise liner off Greece’s coast two years prior.
In conclusion, Yiannis Avranas survived his fateful decision but faced considerable criticism for it. Despite being exonerated from criminal charges, he resigned from his post as captain soon after and largely stayed out of public view until 2012 when he appeared in court related to another incident at sea. In this way we can see that while he may have escaped legal punishment, Yiannis Avranas will always be remembered as the captain who abandoned ship during a storm off South Africa’s coast.