There is an etiquette to ‘abandoning ship’
Brian Palmer l The Slate Group LLC
         Should women and children go first? Do captains have to go last?
         After the 4,300-passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast, in January, the issue has been bantered about.
         Some passengers say there was chaos during the evacuation, with no respect for the tradition of women and children first. The Italian Coast Guard reportedly ordered the captain, who had abandoned ship, back onto his crippled vessel to assist in the evacuation, but he refused. Are there laws governing how to abandon ship?
         Yes, but they say nothing about gender or age. The International Maritime Organization has issued fairly extensive rules about the location and size of lifeboats a cruise ship must offer, and how quickly a company should be able to clear its ship.
         If an evacuation alarm sounds, cruise-ship passengers are supposed to proceed to the loading area and board a lifeboat that was assigned to them based on their cabin numbers.        Some evacuations are far more chaotic than that, and the crew just loads whoever is ready to go.
         In those emergency situations, men sometimes step aside for the women to go first, but it’s not a matter of maritime law, nor is the tradition observed in many parts of the world.
         Similarly, the captain has no obligation to go down with the ship, and he or she doesn’t have to be the last person to step into a lifeboat. (In many cases, like the Costa Concordia incident, people go unaccounted for, so requiring the captain to be the last person off would be a death sentence.)
Nevertheless, it’s possible that Capt. Francesco Schettino failed in his duty to his passengers. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires the captain to exercise his professional judgment to protect passenger safety, and most maritime experts would agree that presence on the ship is a prerequisite for fulfilling that obligation.
         Some nations, such as Italy, Greece, and Spain have laws requiring the captain to remain on the ship to evacuate passengers, although these are rarely enforced and don’t specify exactly when the captain is permitted to leave.
         In her book “Women and Children First: 19th-Century Sea Narratives and American Identity,” English professor Robin Miskolcze chronicled the origins of our maritime evacuation priorities. Until the second half of the 18th century, it was widely believed in England and America that God decided who would survive a shipwreck, so no one criticized men for climbing over whoever stood between them and safety. However, as Enlightenment thinkers began to emphasize human agency, and women came to be viewed as the holy protectors of the family, news reports grew critical of men who survived shipwrecks that killed female passengers.
         Three disasters solidified the principle of women and children first in Britain and America. When the HMS Birkenhead went down in 1852, the soldiers reportedly stood at attention while the women and children were loaded into lifeboats. The overwhelming majority of the men died in an act that contemporary writers called “a piece of pure and exalted manhood.”
         Two years later, there was a mad scramble on the decks of the American ship SS Arctic as it foundered near Newfoundland. The press branded the male survivors cowards for failing to save even a single woman or child.
         American morality was redeemed in 1857, when the crew and male passengers of the SS Central America loaded women and children onto lifeboats at the expense of their own lives. Media reports glorified the gold-rush men who sacrificed their new wealth and their lives in a final act of chivalry. The image of Capt. William Lewis Herndon calmly smoking a cigar as he went down with his ship became a symbol of American seagoing bravery.
         So what’s going to happen to the capsized cruise ship?
         They’ll move it off the reef, very slowly. A salvage company will have to right the Costa Concordia, patch it, and pump out the water before attempting to tow it away. It’s not an easy job under any circumstances, but this will be a particularly tough rescue.
         Salvagers have to place a bulkhead against the ship to steady it while winches pull it upright. In this case, it will be difficult to find a place to set the bulkhead on the jagged rocks nearby. Air bags might be placed under the hull and inflated to give the ship a boost, but they can’t right the ocean liner on their own.
         The salvage process will likely take months, and possibly more than a year. If the operation is too difficult, the owners may decide to cut the ship up, take it away on barges, and sell it for scrap.
         Brian Palmer is a regular contributor to Slate, where this article originally appeared.
         The author thanks Lee Adamson of the International Maritime Organization, Mike Lacey of the International Salvage Union, and Robin Miskolcze of Loyola Marymount University.

Homegrown gondolas to glide on the New River


DOUGLAS JORDAN l Waterfront Times
         FORT LAUDERDALE — Jake London stops short of making any kind of guarantee, but he feels pretty good about his team’s chance of winning it all this year.
         “A lot of work went into this, and we’re all determined,” he said, brimming with pride. “We didn’t do so well last year, but this year, we’re coming out swinging.”
         The event London hopes to win is the 2nd Annual Red Bull Candola, which will offer homegrown “gondoliers” the chance to race and showcase man-made, human-powered gondolas down Fort Lauderdale’s New River on April 14. Teams will score some extra “wings” if they include a certain 8.4-oz. can in the watercraft’s design.
         Publicist Cassady Faircloth said the idea for the event came from an employee of Red Bull and that it took several years to develop. Fort Lauderdale, dubbed the “Venice of America” for its proliferation of waterways, was an obvious location.
         “Red Bull has become known for innovative sports and recreational competitions, plus its sponsorship of extreme sports,” Faircloth said. “Candola, which is a fun, family-friendly event with on and off-the-water activities, is no different.”
         Teams of three – two mates and a captain – take on the task of designing, building and rowing the creative craft down a .33-mile course between Huizenga Plaza and Esplanade Park.
         Faircloth said last year’s inaugural Candola was a resounding success, with more than 12,000 people lining the waterfront to watch 20 teams row.
         “Fort Lauderdale was so welcoming last time, with such an overwhelming amount of support from the crowd, participants and local businesses that everyone is even more excited for this year,” Faircloth said. “There couldn’t be a more perfect city, not only because of the amazing downtown setting, but also because of all the creative talent and paddling skills people here inspire.”
         It’s not exactly a race, so entrants need not worry about having the fastest gondola. It just has to fit within certain size limitations, and, of course, it has to float.
“Time is just one of the factors the judges take into consideration,” Faircloth said. “Creativity and showmanship play a big part into which group gets crowned with the title, ‘Big Bambino.'”
         Naturally, the busy vessel traffic on the New River presents a challenge, but she said Red Bull works with the local marine patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard to close the event’s portion of the river on a roving basis, allowing commercial and private yachts to pass through intermittently during the three-hour event.
         And it’s not just about navigation.
         To win support of the crowd and the judges, each team must also perform a 30-second skit before race time, and there’s also a “people’s choice” vote for teams to compete for another prize at the end.
         Faircloth said last year's event featured lots of innovative, often wacky designs, with “vessels” built to resemble pirate ships, spaceships and even animals. The winning team was Techno Vikings from Orlando, which walked away with a custom trophy.
“We kind of threw everything together last year,” said London, who is a pilot. “Our boat was made from a PVC frame and plastic sheeting. We weren’t even sure whether it would survive the race. And it was super slow.”
His team, The Mile High Club, consists of himself, his wife Julie, and his friends Ryan and Jena Sansgaard. Since only three people can ride in the Candola, Jena will sit this one out. Last year, it was Julie.
         “I’m confidant that we can win this thing,” London said. “But really, it’s all just for fun.”
         While all boats must actually float, there are a few other water-safety regulations required before castoff. All boats must be entirely human-powered – no motors or stored energy permitted – and cannot exceed 100 pounds (without passengers). Boats must be between 6 and 12 feet long and at least 2 feet above water, with a maximum height of 6 feet.
         Vessels should also be made using lightweight and environmentally safe materials mainly because while gondolas are intended to stay afloat, it’s likely not all will be able to. Strong swimming skills are also required by all aboard — in case they go overboard.

         For more information about the event, visit
         www.redbullusa.com/candola.