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Full Article Images of December Best photos of the year Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Supreme Court throws out Texas election maps 2:53pm EST Congress puts brakes on anti-piracy bills 2:30pm EST Gang members arrested after boasting of murders on Facebook 19 Jan 2012 Major powers open to serious talks with Iran 4:17pm EST Megaupload site wants assets back, to fight charges 2:40pm EST Discussed 123 Romney opens 21-point lead in South Carolina: Reuters/Ipsos poll 112 Obama set to reject Keystone oil pipeline: sources 90 Supreme Court rejects judge-drawn Texas election maps Watched Panic and rescue: Raw video from the cruise ship Wed, Jan 18 2012 Was there a rape on Big Brother? Wed, Jan 18 2012 Republican rivals clash at raucous debate 12:04am EST Cowardice at sea is no crime -- at least in the U.S. Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Crews face test on Italian ship as weather worsens 2:31pm EST Italian ship's captain still has hometown sympathy 2:31pm EST Italy aims to stabilize cruise ship as weather worsens Thu, Jan 19 2012 Tape shows cruise ship crew denying emergency Thu, Jan 19 2012 UPDATE 2-Search resumes for missing on capsized Italy liner Thu, Jan 19 2012 Analysis & Opinion The strange, rocky beginnings of DHL The cruise industryâ€™s rough sail Related Topics World » France » Captain Francesco Schettino is seen in this undated file photo released on January 18, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Stringer By Andrew Longstreth NEW YORK | Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:00pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Captain Francesco Schettino hopped a life boat after the Costa Concordia hit a rock off the Tuscany coast, he violated a sacred maritime tradition: that a captain should be the last to leave his ship. He also is accused of violating the law. Italian maritime code criminalizes the act of abandoning ship and Schettino was placed under house arrest, accused of causing the disaster and then jumping ship before the evacuation was complete. Countries have adopted different maritime codes over the centuries and the responsibilities of a captain can be traced to a 12th century French document called the Rolls of Oleron, which established the first known outlines of maritime law. The sailor's code that's developed from the rolls - or rules - has been celebrated in everything from Conrad's Lord Jim, about a young seaman who abandons a ship in distress, to the 1960s U.S. television show Gilligan's Island theme song, with the lyric, "If not for the courage of the fearless crew, The Minnow would be lost!" In the United States, the rule that a captain should be the last to leave a distressed ship is not a criminal offense. The Westlaw online legal research service shows the phrase "abandon ship" turned up 618 decisions but none addressed a captain's decision to leave a ship before his passengers. The closest U.S. law that appears to take on the act of leaving a ship before passengers and crew is seaman's manslaughter, which criminalizes a captain's misconduct or negligence that result in deaths. A version of the statute was used to convict a seaman in the 19th century who abandoned 31 passengers aboard a sinking ship on its way to Philadelphia from Liverpool. But the seaman' manslaughter has rarely been invoked in recent years -- cited in just 22 court decisions since 1976, none of which involved accusations against a captain leaving a ship prematurely, according to Westlaw. The issue of abandoning ship has been discussed widely since the Costa Concordia's crash last week. According to the Italian Coast Guard, Schettino not only jumped into a lifeboat before there had been an accounting of the more than 4,000 passengers and crew, he also refused a coast guard's plea to return. Schettino, who was arrested a day after the boat capsized, has denied accusations that he acted cowardly. He says he fell into the lifeboat while helping other passengers, according to a report in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. THE SAILOR'S HONOR CODE In Italy, a commander who leaves before his passengers can be sent to jail for up to two years. If he jumps ship and people die, he can be sentenced to eight years in jail. "It's based on the sailor's honor code," said Luca C.M. Melchionna, a professor at St. John's University School of Law in New York. The concept that a ship's master has specific duties was popularized in Britain by Eleanor of Acquitaine around 1160, after she had become the Queen of England. Based on the Rolls of Oleron, the rules mostly addressed commercial concerns like the condition of cargo. Over time, different countries adopted aspects of the Rolls for their admiralty law. After the sinking of Titanic in 1912, several nations signed the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which addressed safety requirements for ships such as the number of lifeboats needed. The treaty requires that the master of a ship at sea "proceed with all speed" to help any person in distress, if possible. It doesn't mention when it's acceptable for a captain to leave a ship in danger. "There is no basis in international law for the notion that the captain goes down with the ship, or that he is the last to leave the ship," said Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey, chief executive of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and a former senior officer in the Royal Navy. It has been up to individual countries to enact their own criminal maritime laws. In the U.S., for example, the seaman's manslaughter statute was passed in the mid-19th century after several fatal steamboat accidents. There's no shortage of inspiring tales of seamen following the honor code. William Lewis Herndon, commander of the commercial mail steamer Central America in the 19th century, got women and children safely off the sinking ship, and stayed behind and drowned with more than 400 passengers and crew who couldn't escape. Though historical accounts differ on the death of Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic, in the 1997 movie he's shown stoically gripping the ship's wheel before water gushes into the bridge and kills him. Of course, not every seafaring figure with a story was a hero. A yarn that has haunted mariners for years comes from Conrad's Lord Jim, who fantasized about being a hero if an emergency ever arose at sea, said Craig Allen, Sr., a visiting professor of maritime studies at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. "When the emergency really did arise he proved to be a coward instead," he said. (Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon in London and Silvia Aloisi in Rome; Editing by Doina Chiacu) World France Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (3) ladycascadia wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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