A cowardly captain’s rising through the ranks defies logic

It is difficult to imagine how Fran- cesco Schettino ever became the captain of a ship, entrusted with the lives of 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members on the Costa Concordia.

Did no one see any sign that Schettino was given to the kind of self indulgence that would lead him to run a ship aground in a maneuver designed, apparently, to impress someone on the nearby shore?

We place our lives in the hands of any number of professionals from time to time. We expect all of them to be well trained and competent. but the law of averages says that with an estimated 9 million doctors in the world, some won’t measure up. There are fewer than 100,0000 commercial airline pilots, but that’s still a big enough number that it isn’t amazing when we see the rare story that one landed at the wrong airport, or flew past a city and had to double back.

But there are fewer than 50 cruise ships sailing the seas that are the size of the Costa Concordia — that is those above 100,000 tons. So, by the numbers, it is reasonable to expect that the captains of those ships would be the saltiest, most trustworthy and most rock-solid sailors their companies could find.

And yet, out of all the captains of smaller ships who would aspire to taking the helm of a ship like the Costa Concordia, its owner, Costa Crociere SpA, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise Lines, chose Schettino.

It could turn out to be one of the most spectacularly and tragically bad promotions in maritime history.

Schettino not only ran his ship aground off the northwestern coast of Italy, he abandoned his ship, his crew and his passengers.

Now the ship lies on its side off the island of Giglio, a liability to his company that will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Worse, 27 passengers and five crew members are confirmed or presumed dead. And salvage divers are working to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the Tuscan Sea.

Unanswered questions

There will be inquiries, civil suits and almost certainly the criminal prosecution of Schettino. He has commanded — and abandoned — his last vessel. But one of the focuses of the inquiry should be on how such a flawed commander rose through the ranks and how he managed to hide his obvious weaknesses from those responsible for keeping him in command.

It is amazing to read or listen to his exchange with a coast guard officer during which he steadfastly refused to return to the ship and passengers he abandoned. Had he returned, his lack of judgment would have still been apparent, but the question of his cowardice might have been open to debate.

Ordered to go back on board by Capt. Gregorio De Falco of the Italian coast guard, Schettino protests: “But do you realize it is dark and here we can’t see anything ...”

De Falco cut him off: “And so what? You want go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!”

Schettino ignored that order and must now live with the consequences of both his irresponsible action in wrecking his ship and his cowardly action in deserting it. Passengers and crew left behind their possessions and sought only to save their lives. Most managed to get to safety, no thanks to the captain.

Schettino will pay in some measure for his malfeasance. His company will pay for its misfeasance in giving him command. But 27 men and women who didn’t make it to shore will have paid the highest price.