SALEM — The humiliating — some would say shameful — fate of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia has some wondering about the likelihood that such a thing could happen here.
It couldn't happen to an American-flagged vessel, said David Smith, a Salem lawyer, seaman and graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. American travelers are protected by both maritime law and maritime traditions, he said.
On Friday the 13th, the massive Costa Concordia came too close to land, ran aground and tipped over in shallow water some yards from Italian soil. And that was only the beginning of its problems.
Captain Francesco Schettino, forsaking the tradition of staying with the ship, apparently fled, leaving hundreds of terrified passengers on board the slanting deck. He was put under house arrest following a tense radio exchange with the Italian Coast Guard.
"I'm here with the rescue boats," was one translation of Schettino. "I am not going anywhere." And when he was repeatedly ordered back aboard, the captain replied, "Do you realize it is dark and here we can't see anything?"
Aboard ship, the behavior of some passengers and crew was judged little better, with several survivors lamenting the abandonment of the tradition of women and children first.
"There were big men, crew members, pushing their way past us to get into the lifeboats," one female passenger told London's Daily Mail. "It was disgusting."
Jailed since the accident, Schettino appeared Tuesday before a judge in Grosseto, Italy, where he was questioned for three hours. The judge ordered him held under house arrest, his lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told reporters. Criminal charges, including manslaughter and abandoning ship, are expected to be filed by prosecutors in coming days. He could face 12 years in prison for the abandoning-ship charge alone.
Smith dismisses the idea that the behavior of Schettino and his crew would be matched by American seamen. The difference, he said, is training.
"There's so much drilling," he said. "It's very intense."
United States maritime law also plays a part.
"If a captain gets off leaving his passengers and crew on board in this type of situation, he's going to lose his license and be charged criminally," Smith said. "Unless there are mitigating circumstances. It's a neglect of duty."
Mitigating circumstances would not be likely to include Schettino's recent claim that he actually left the boat by accident, "tripping" his way into a lifeboat.
"A ship's captain (under U.S. law) can be held personally liable if anything takes place where his passengers were injured," Smith said.
Among seamen, the ideal is "you don't get off until you have to step up into the lifeboat."
Smith adds a caveat: "Some of my friends who served on ships that sunk say, 'It's really difficult to know what to do at the time.'" Seamen must be flexible in dealing with split-second, life-and-death decisions.
The Italian disaster has sent Smith to his lawbooks, as he's already fielded one call from a nervous Wall Street investor with money in Carnival Cruise lines, of which the Costa Concordia is a subsidiary.
He noted that it's more difficult to find a legal obligation that would call for passengers to observe the tradition of women and children first.
Yet, he believes that's a matter of common decency. It is, he said, "a moral obligation" to assist "the young, the old, people with disabilities," while allowing those who are healthy enough to fend for themselves.
Press reports indicate that 11 bodies have been recovered from the disaster, while 21 people remain unaccounted for.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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