By Joyce Alexander, RNP (retired)
The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia wrecked a few days ago and early reports said that it had hit some rocks. Quickly though, reports came out that the captain, Francesco Schettino, had driven the ship closer than normal to those rocks on the way out of port in order to show off the ship to the residents. An article from the New York Times gives more details.
More bodies found on ship, as transcripts reveal rebuke to captain
Interviews from some of the over 4,020 passengers of the liner stated in news reports that it was “like the Titanic.”
Only shortly after the shipwreck it was determined that the captain had left the ship early on, and also that he had been seen drinking on the bridge with a young, attractive woman at the time of the crash, and that he had been drinking at dinner before the crash. This indicates to me that the man may have been drunk at the time he made the decision to go closer than was safe to the reef.
Rescue crews had reportedly told the captain to “go back to the ship” and at that time they were in command with the authority to demand that he return. He didn’t return and was subsequently branded a “coward,” as well as taken into custody by authorities for not doing his duty in the time of the wreck. I have a feeling this man’s professional life as a sailor is over, and that he will become an international pariah.
Videos taken showed the passengers lined up, going down the side of the overturned boat on one rope, like a line of ants going to a food source.
The captain finally came up with a story that he somehow believed would show that he was not at fault for leaving the ship early (excuse me if I laugh). He said he had “accidentally fallen into a lifeboat while trying to help rescue efforts.” This single statement, to me, branded the man a psychopath. Dr. Robert Hare said in his book, Without Conscience, that the psychopath’s brain doesn’t work like other brains when it comes to lies. They will tell a lie when there is evidence to show it is a lie right in front of them, they will tell a lie that is so unbelievable that no one would believe it, but they do not “get it” that their lie is totally unbelievable.
Of course a psychopath would also put his own well-being above those of his responsibility, such as the passengers, and would desert a sinking boat on the first available lifeboat. Capt. Schettino leaving first, by itself, would not brand someone a psychopath, when maybe they would only be a coward, or so terrorized that he became unglued and deserted the sinking ship. But being told to “get back on the ship!” and refusing to do so does seem to indicate that he was either totally unglued or had no concern for the passengers.
The other things that the captain did that were irresponsible, like drinking at dinner, and drinking at the time of the crash with the rocks, and steering the boat close to the rocks so that he could show off, all of those things might have just been a day of poor judgment, and would not necessarily make me brand someone with the term psychopath. But those things, in concert with the unbelievable lie, make me think that this man has not only no conscience, but that his brain is unable to distinguish a believable lie from one that is so unbelievable that only a psychopath would tell it.
I’m not sure that there is a lie that would be believable or that would not damn any captain who deserted his ship like Capt. Schettino did. However, a man who was not a psychopath, who had simply panicked and deserted his ship, who otherwise had a moral compass, would show some remorse for what he had done. He would at least show some shame at having failed in a pivotal moment in his life, in which he should have showed some courage and concern for the more than 4,000 lives in his charge.
I think that anyone can “fail” in a moment of horrible terror, in combat or accident. The overwhelming terror of something like a ship capsizing, the panic of the passengers, and possibly also the man being drunk, could account for him deserting the ship early and refusing to do his duty, or letting go of his responsibility. But the unbelievable lie is the one thing, that taken with all the others, that makes me think this man is truly a psychopath.
Here’s another article about the captain by a former commander of the U.S. Coast Guard on CNN.com:
More on the ship captain:
Costa CEO says captain misled company, crew, on CBSNews.com.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57363122/costa-ceo-says-captain-misled-company-crew/
Maybe I am cynical but sometimes I can just look at a person and instantly know he/she is a jerkospath, just from the way he looks, act’s, body language etc..without knowing a darn thing about them..I instantly coined this arrogant pompous narc. Tripped and fell into a life boat? Yeah sure, just like my x tripped and fell into somebody’s unzipped pants…I hope he get’s fed to the the sharks….
Goodmorning~!
Henry ~ my first impression – exactly !!!
There was a psychologist talking about him this morning on HLN – said first thing he did was call his mommie and tell her he was OK. Psychologist said that speaks directly to his problem.
Henry – read about your little doggie’s teeth – if you have any younger dogs may I suggest giving them Hills Prescription Diet – Canine Dental Health – as treats. My boxer boy gets several a day and it has really controlled his plaque.
Morning Milo,
Thanx I will check get some of that next time I go to petsmart, Posy is doing fine.
Henry, you gave me a BELLY laugh this morning, your X tripped and fell into someone else’s pants! LOL ROTFLMAO Yea, right!
I think he WILL get fed to the sharks…probably prison for manslaughter of upwards of 30 people, I think there are 11 confirmed dead and 21 “missing” and not likely to be found alive. Then he will never be able to find a job…and if he did the money would go to the victim’s families.
I watched an article last night on Date line about this one and also cruises in general. How the cruise lines treat customers and staff alike.
One woman who was an officer said she was raped and the Captain told her that she had to get to work NOW and deal with the problem later. It showed videos of people fighting on board, tales of rape by staff (recently a 14 year old passenger was raped by a staff member) and apparently there is LITTLE TO NO LIABILITY for what happens to you on board a cruise. Plus, the security has no place to lock someone up on most boats…just send them to their room.
I’ve only been on one cruise but I get so SEA SICK I am not up for another one and I am actually glad, given the number of DRUNKS on most cruises. I did enjoy the off shore sights though.
While it is unusual for a guy to reach this rank without having responsibility and caution, we all know that psychopaths can ingrate themselves to the power positions in many different lines of employment. Look at how many become governors, Senators, Kings, and dictators, much less sea captains. They can be smart and even charming, appear responsible…SNAKES IN SUITS can also be SNAKES IN UNIFORM, if I may borrow Dr. Hare’s book title to change a bit.
I’ve read all the things that have been released so far about how he abandoned his duty…how there were no safety drills when the people first got on board and he kept denying there was anything wrong except a power outage even after the ship had hit the rock and was taking on water. All that together proved that he was lying about what was going on, desperately trying to find some way to make himself not look bad…but FALLING INTO A LIFE BOAT was the kicker for me that said PSYCHOPATH, LOUD AND CLEAR.
That’s why I am no longer in a relationship of trust with my son C….the lie. He’s not a good liar either, but even his lies are not that far off the grid! LOL But C isn’t a psychopath, just a jerk….but one I can’t trust to have my back, so right now our relationship is only about protecting our mutual interests where Patrick is concerned and keeping Patrick in prison.
Great article Oxy, and thanks for the updated link, Donna.
Re: Donna’s link: I have to call a foul on the company’s response. IMO they are just maneuvering to avoid accountability on this one.
Oxy’s second article “Ex-Coast Guard chief: Captain failed in every way” was very apt. As he said:
“The captain of a ship at sea is one of the last bastions of total authority in this world. The ocean is a dangerous place, where life and death decisions often need to be made in an instant. For this reason, a sea captain is granted complete independence, power, and control aboard his vessel.
But with that absolute authority comes absolute responsibility. In the case of a cruise ship, thousands of passengers have come aboard with the expectation that they are in the hands of a competent crew headed by a competent captain. They are depending on his professionalism, skill and dedication to his one and only mission: to navigate his vessel safely and prudently from point A to point B.
To meet that mission, a modern sea captain is provided with all kinds of resources. He is given extraordinary training for the challenges of the waters he is in and the vessel he is commanding. He is given extraordinary electronic gadgetry that allows him to fix his position on the globe within inches. He receives all sorts of input information — weather reports, charts detailing virtually every hazard in his area of operation, and detailed information on pathways to take and pathways to avoid — all of which arm him to make good judgments as to where he is going.”
As I mentioned in my comment on Donna’s post re: banks intentionally hiring psychopaths, the absolute minimum requirement for critical systems of any type: financial, transportation, medical, airlines, etc… are appropriate controls and checks and balances. Every critical system must – almost universally by law – have backups on their backups. One of the biggest audit failures is finding a “SPOF”: single point of failure. It is the companies sole responsibility to put in place those checks and balances so that any one disordered individual CANNOT singlehandedly wreak the kind of havoc we see here.
Here in Canada I often watch the show “Mayday”. Not sure if it’s available in the US, UK, or Europe. It dramatizes major accidents – usually airline accidents – and goes through the forensics activity that identify root causes, through to the legislation/technology requirements changes that are enacted. In every case of a major accident there have been multiple failures.
I once had an interesting discussion at a cocktail party with a retired US history professor. Without knowing any of my history or interests, he started on a discussion of how the US constitution was designed with checks and balances between the Senate and House of Representatives and Presidential Veto (forgive me if I’ve described that incorrectly – I’m not familiar with the US constitutional setup) specifically to thwart psychopaths taking sole control of the country. The concept of ensuring that there are checks on absolute control of any critical entity or instituation, in order to correct things midstream, has been known for thousands of years.
Odds are there was some spath-like behaviour in the company management that served to reduce or undermine those checks and balances that should have been in place, probably done under the notion of cost-cutting of ‘unnecessary regulation’. Spaths, as we all know by know, are fond of playing the odds – particularly when they don’t have a lot of skin in the game – and taking risks that the rest of us would never dream of. As Oxy’s article pointed out, there were layers on layers of significant errors over time that were visible yet unaddressed by the rest of the crew. Someone other than the captain is responsible for that.
The airline industry has for years now required training and cultural awareness raising that empowers others in the cockpit to speak up and challenge the captain’s authority when required. The Titanic happened over 100 years ago, and the shipping industry should be, one would imagine, similarly aware of this risk.
In my opinion, it’s not just psychopaths that ruin the world, it’s equally the rest of us who sit back and say nothing and allow them to continue without consequence to the point of disaster.
I particularly liked this paragraph from the article, “Captain failed in every way.”
Anyone who serves in a capacity of responsibility should be selected with careful attention to character. But that isn’t the case anymore. As is evidenced by the people who are running for office these days.
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/01/20/the-gingrich-question-cheating-vs-open-marriage/voters-prefer-newt-gingrichs-adultery-to-open-marriage
Too many people think that the person in office should not have to be a good person in order to be a good leader. They only have to be “grandiose” for most people to vote for them or hire them.
So Annie, your point is well taken. It is the rest of us who are ultimately responsible for allowing the cowardly, infantile spaths to take power. Our culture has become one in which only the narcissists get attention. A good honest person is just too boring to get ahead in life.
Annie, your comments are well thought out and truly on point. This man had absolute authority on board and there should have been some sign that he was not responsible enough to hold this position.
You are also right I think in that there should have been some checks and balances. There are other officers on board who had probably seen evidence of psychopathic and risky behavior prior to this happening. I bet this is not the first time he tried to do something dangerous just to “show off.” Why did these other officers not report this? I think because there is no check or balance on a ship. There have been stories for thousands of years of how captains have been psychopaths and abused the crews, sunk their ships, given orders that were suicide for the entire ship. The book “Two Years Before the Mast” written in the early 1800s is a great classic about how the Navies of the world operated and to some extent still do. Civilian navies are not quite so checked or balanced as military captains might be.
I think the civilian navy is more concerned with profits than with anything else.
Dateline last night had some good interviews, one with a guy who fell over board off a cruise ship….apparently there are a couple of dozen of those a year, with only 3 of them found alive last year.
Airline safety I think is probably much better than ocean going vessels partly due to the lower numbers of passengers. With 4,200 people on board the ship it is like a TOWN rather than a vehicle. Getting word out to all 4,200 people at best would be difficult.
Also when a ship turns over on it’s side, the life boats from either side are about useless. The captain denied the wreck for over an hour so the time these people could have gotten off when the ship was more or less up right was LOST. Actually one of the captains said 30 minutes would have done it if it had been started when the ship first hit the rocks and if the people had had a safety instruction.
With psychopaths in positions of POWER and a no checks or balances, things can go wrong quickly. This wreck is going to cost the owners BIG BUCKS in lost revenue from canceled trips and so on. I do imagine that the management is distancing themselves from this man. For what it is worth though, his life is ruined whether he knows it or not.
Sky,m GOOD post! I think it does boil down to who WE (the public) allow to run the companies and the world.
I read the other day about Nazi Germany and a young Pole who fought against the Nazis in the resistence. It said that only 10% of the people were actually WITH the Nazis, and another 10% “went along” and the rest of the people DID NOTHING EXCEPT SIT BY and DO NOTHING. about 5-10% FOUGHT against the Nazis and hid Jews or did other things to fight against the Nazis. It is amazing how low a percentage of the people can take over the other majority. It is frightening too. But we see it when we tell our stories to others and they have no empathy or compassion for us, or even belief sometimes. So I think about the story I heard a while back about a Jewish man who knew the Nazis were coming and tried to warn his friends to flee while there was time to just take a suit case and walk out before it was too late…..which he and his family did do just that, walk out with nothing but what they could carry in a small bag, his wife gave her wedding ring to a man to cross a river in his boat….but their friends said “Oh, what would we do with the business or the furniture?” They stayed and died and ultimately someone else got their buiness and their furniture.They did not want to BELIEVE their friend, so they worried about inconsequential things and paid with their lives.
Donna, thank you for this article! Seeing the psychopath engaged in a world-wide scandal might help reach some people to be more aware of the psychopaths around us, especially those in high positions or those responsible for the safety of others.
I know that since joining LF, my eyes have opened to so many truths I would have never known otherwise. I think it’s so important what you do. Making people around you and those visiting your website aware of your experience with the psychopath is doing God’s work, in my honest opinion. It’s not easy convincing people of the awful truth that psychopaths exist and not just in movies. Convincing them that these people do not function with normal human emotions and that they complrtely lack empathy, responsibility, remorse, and a conscience is no east feat. But you are doing a real social service, Donna, and you’re reaching and teaching so many like me. Now I can live more confidently that I won’t fall into the same horrible trap again.
You and all of the people commenting on this website have my undying gratitude. God bless you!