Of Bankers and Ship Captains

01-27-2012 • www.lewrockwell.com/Bill Bonner

Will no one rise to the defense of Captain Francesco Schettino? No? Then we will!

The poor man is calumnied as a pusillanimous incompetent. Just because he hit a rock. Heck, anyone with a ship that big could hit a rock. And the rock wasn’t s’posed to be there!

This incompetence charge is completely baseless. He had even tested almost the exact same route under almost the exact same conditions back in August. He sailed through the straits without a scratch. It was perfectly reasonable for him to conclude that the passage was safe. Perhaps someone put the rock there, just to catch him out.

And then comes the charge that he ignored the fact that his ship was taking on water…and abandoned ship before all the passengers were off. Well, yes, but who wouldn’t? As to the first part of that complaint, how could he know the ship was sinking until it actually began to sink? And then, once it was determined that she was going down, what was the point of hanging around? There were perfectly able seamen to assist; and those passengers who had survived the collision and the sinking proved that they were perfectly capable of getting out on their own. Besides, the idea that the captain goes down with the ship is out of date. Now, we are in a new age. Now, failed captains get a bonus…and a retirement package.