I couldn't find a straight answer. If you're a Captain on a ship thats sinking, is it a law that you go down with your ship or is it a rule?
Can you abandon ship if everyone is off, or do you really go down with the ship?

The captain has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the ship itself and everyone onboard. It follows that he has to ensure that everyone is safely off his ship before he himself leaves her. The consequence is that he is always the likeliest person to go down with the ship.

As a matter of law, a captain could be accused of dereliction of duty if he left before others. It could be said that he'd not ensured that all were safe, if he left before they did.

Once he has done his duty, he is not obliged to go down with the empty ship.

Isn't it also true that if there are no living survivors on board and the ship doesn't sink, anyone can claim ownership of the abandoned vessel, by simply boarding it?

Ron, think about the captain of the Titanic... the rest of HIS life was miserable. He never captained a ship again and was stigmatized for the rest of his life.

quote:

Originally posted by Sherasi:
Ron, think about the captain of the Titanic... the rest of HIS life was miserable. He never captained a ship again and was stigmatized for the rest of his life.

At last, a British sense of humour !

Indeed. Captain Smith was seen on board at around 2 am. The ship finally went under at 2.23 am. He was never seen alive again after that night, so his future career was somewhat blighted by events. He was presumed to have drowned on April 15th 1912, therefore.

Anyone connected with the ownership or management of the White Star Line, owners of the Titanic, was stigmatized. In the Derby next year the Stewards disqualified the colt that was first past the post because they mistakenly thought that the colt belonged to the family of the Chairman.(It was quite a race. Apart from that, a protesting suffragette died when she fell under the King's colt, the promoted winner was 100-1, the longest priced winner in the history of the race, and the judge declared the placed horses in the wrong order, a mistake which stood )

quote:

Originally posted by frankvan:
Isn't it also true that if there are no living survivors on board and the ship doesn't sink, anyone can claim ownership of the abandoned vessel, by simply boarding it?

The laws vary depending on state, country, or international maritime location (waters where the vessel is located) but basically yes anyone can claim an abandoned ship. It requires no agreement such as a surrender does.

In New York as long as you are not a marine salvage company you have the right to claim title to a vessel that you save from sinking if you save it. (even if the people are there) This is seldom done as the owner of the vessel makes an agreement with the person / people helping him or her.

The law requires captains to save the people but not the vessel. This is sometimes used as forced leverage when a boat becomes grounded or impaled on rocks. The person who rescues the vessel basically has the right to claim title to it and makes a “deal” with the distressed boater.

Reminds me of a tale I heard about a soldier who lost his rifle. His Commanding Officer gave him a dressing down and told him the cost of replacing the rifle would come out of his pay. The soldier thought for a moment and then said "I now know why ship's Captain's always go down with their ship!"