The first I heard of the Costa Concordia cruise ship partially sinking off the coast of Italy was when I stumbled onto some very striking photos on Tumblr. The images of this mammoth ship listing on its side seemed surreal at first, and certainly brought to mind recollections of the Titanic. As the number of missing has grown each time I check my news feeds, it seems, I also noticed that, among the charges pending against the captain of the ship are abandoning his vessel while passengers were still aboard.
This, of course, makes me think of the “captain going down with his ship” concept that we’ve heard in stories for a long time. Of course, there’s no law indicating that a captain has to sink and lose his or her life if their vessel goes under, at least not that I’m aware of, or that I can imagine. I was unaware that it is illegal for a captain to abandon his or her passengers, however, but I find it interesting and appropriate that there is a legal code for this.
This sparked a discussion with Karen and I about legal codes versus ethical codes. Perhaps, I thought, the “captain goes down with his ship” is more of an old ethical code than anything else…an understanding of dedication to the duty that is included with your vocation or lifestyle. This isn’t something along the lines of a police officer encountering a crime when off-duty, as a peace officer is a sworn public servant, and typically must intervene anyway. This is more along the lines of a physician following his or her sworn oath to the healing arts if, for example, driving onto the scene of an accident and choosing to render aid to the victims. When one chooses to be a physician, one recognizes that they are undertaking the burden of this ethical code. Different vocations and professions have different ethical codes, something by which those entering the profession agree to be bound. Health care and educational professionals, for example, are mandated reporters in almost every state in the U.S., and this requirement often doesn’t stop within the bounds of their professional practice.
So, the idea of a captain allegedly abandoning their vessel while imperiled passengers and crew were still aboard strikes me as a particularly dishonorable action. While there are many so-called good Samaritans in the world who will voluntarily place themselves at risk to help those in danger, there are those who voluntarily undertake the ethical, if not legal, obligation to do so under certain circumstances. Failure to uphold that ethical responsibility is a personal failure of the highest calibre.
Perhaps the issue is that we are not placed in situations requiring us to uphold these ethical codes that frequently? Perhaps its easy to say that we would place ourselves in harm’s way to help someone in need, but the situation looks quite differently if we actually find ourselves in that situation. Perhaps a fight, flight, or freeze response can overtake even the strongest of us in the right circumstances, forcing a response contrary to what we know we should do. Its interesting, however, to think that we might choose and make a commitment to a profession in which such an ethical (or legal) code were required of us, and then fail to keep it at a critical moment. I guess that failure sort of makes the rest of us feel betrayed.
Perhaps we should show more grace to each other, recognizing that everyone make serious errors?
I’m interested to see if this captain’s actions prove intentionally avoidant, or simply fearfully negligent. I’m also interested to see what consequences are enforced as an outcome.
