[speeder]

I agree with all of the comments except one. I'd like to believe that this guy is really the exception for ship captains. It really is a profession for a certain type of person with guts, (normally). When you sign-up, there is always the very real possibility of "going down with the ship".

This was not even close to the most harrowing circumstance that a ship's captain could find himself in. Yeah, the ship is sinking and taking water but you're 100 feet from shore with the GD CG on the scene!! Sheesh...

I have a good friend who is a licensed ship's captain. I can't remember his exact certification but something like *up to 120 meters* or the like. He was most recently the captain for a huge private yacht owned by a billionaire who owns a Nascar team. He is also an ex-NAVY Seal team diver and dive instructor. I can guarantee you that there is no conceivable circumstance where he would abandon his ship with people still to be saved/evacuated. He is in the extreme of the big balls club but I think that most captains are closer to him than to this Italian fk.