MTS Oceanos

1991

Transkei, the captain first off, Moss Hills on Mayday Location: Indian Ocean, off the Transkei coast, South Africa · Coordinates: 31.65°S 29.42°E · Casualties: 0 · Survivors: 571 · Depth: 92 m · Cause: flooded · valve failure — Took on water through a non-return valve in the engine room during a storm off the Wild Coast of South Africa on the night of 3 August 1991. The captain and senior crew abandoned ship before the passengers were organised; entertainers on board coordinated the rescue and the Mayday broadcasts. · Fate: located · diveable · Type: cruise ship · Epirotiki Line · Tonnage: 7,554 tons · Crew: 185 · Flag: Greece · Launched: 1952 Greek Epirotiki Line cruise ship, on a routine run up the South African coast. Took on water through a faulty engine-room valve in a Wild Coast storm on the night of 3 August 1991. Captain Avranas and most of the crew abandoned ship before the passengers were organised; guitarist Moss Hills and the ship's entertainers took over the bridge, broadcast the Mayday, and ran the evacuation. All 571 aboard survived; the South African Navy airlifted every passenger and crew off by helicopter the next day. A cruise-line disaster with no deaths but permanent reputational damage to the profession of sea captain. The Vessel The MTS Oceanos was a Greek-flagged cruise passenger ship, originally built as the SS Jean Laborde for the French Messageries Maritimes line at the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée yard at La Seyne, France between 1952 and 1953 and launched on 4 June 1952. She was 153 metres long, 13,335 gross tons, and powered by twin steam turbines producing approximately 9,400 horsepower. Her original accommodation for the East Africa passenger service was approximately 100 first-class, 110 tourist-class, and 460 third-class passengers, plus a crew of 220. She had served on the France to Madagascar route through the 1950s and 1960s; she was sold to various subsequent operators through the 1970s and was eventually purchased by the Greek Epirotiki Lines in 1976 and renamed Oceanos. Her post-1976 service was as a Mediterranean and Caribbean cruise ship, operating under Greek flag and Epirotiki management. By 1991, she had been operating as a cruise ship for 15 years and was substantially aged. The specific maintenance condition of the ship had been the subject of various concerns; she had been the subject of multiple minor incidents and had required substantial operational accommodations to continue service. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Yiannis Avranas, 45, a career Greek merchant marine officer. Her complement on 3 August 1991 was 581 persons: 361 passengers (predominantly South African tourists on a Durban-East London coastal cruise) plus 220 crew. The Disaster The specific progression of flooding aboard Oceanos was rapid and catastrophic. Within approximately 10 minutes of the initial hull breach, water had entered the ship's engine room; the main engines were progressively shut down to prevent electrical fire; the ship's wireless equipment was disconnected from main power. The specific emergency power supplies were activated but were substantially inadequate for the continued operation of critical systems. The specific operational issue was the substantial failure of the ship's officers and crew to initiate systematic evacuation procedures. The ship's captain (Yiannis Avranas) and his senior officers abandoned the ship on the first lifeboat to launch, at approximately 22:30 on 3 August 1991. The specific abandonment was conducted without informing the ship's passengers or the remaining crew; the passengers and non-officer crew were left aboard the sinking ship with no effective leadership. The specific role of the Moss Hills (British cabaret entertainers Robin and Moss Hills, who were performing aboard the ship) and other passengers in the evacuation became the specific subject of subsequent international media coverage. The Moss Hills and other passengers recognised that the ship's officers had abandoned them; they took responsibility for organising the evacuation of the remaining passengers and crew; they transmitted distress signals using the ship's wireless equipment (before it failed due to flooding); and they coordinated the