Putting People Before Profits
How one decision saved 1660 lives
This article is the extended Post Script of a larger article, A Tale of Two Captains: The stories of the sinking of the Costa Concordia and Andrea Doria.
Captain Raoul de Beaudéan was commanding the massive 241m (791ft) French passenger ship Île de France, which left New York Harbor on the same day as the Swedish passenger liner Stockholm, and was on its way back to its home port, Le Havre in France.
Upon hearing about the collision of the Andrea Doria, de Beaudéan was skeptical that such a modern ship could be in such distress. Having to turn his ship around to check on the Doria's situation would mean an additional return to New York to refuel, delaying passengers and causing a financial shock to the French Line. He was unable to reach the Andrea Doria, but ended up contacting the Stockholm and Cape Ann, where he learned that the lives of 1600 people were at peril.
He immediately turned the Île de France around and set a direct course for the Andrea Doria.
It took de Beadéan three hours to reach the scene of the accident, where he was then able to position his ship beside the Doria, navigating the damaged ships, other vessels, lifeboats and people in the water. He ordered all of the exterior lights of Île de France to be turned on, which provided incredible emotional relief to everyone at the scene.
The Île de France went on to rescue the majority of the remaining Doria passengers by sending their own lifeboats back and forth, as well as receiving any of the lifeboats from the surrounding areas and ships.
Upon arriving on the Île de France, passengers gave up their cabins to survivors, as well as showing many other acts of kindness.
The decision of Captain Raoul de Beaudéan, who prioritized the lives of people instead of profits for his company, was one of the reasons why all 1660 passengers were safely rescued.
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