The Captain, even after reassuring the Port Authority he was going to, never went back on the ship after he abandoned it. He will almost certainly face charges.
The one thing he did right after the collision, probably to save his own ass more than anything, was to ground the ship before she could sink. In that regard, at least, he probably did save lives but those lives were at risk due to his incompetence and gross negligence in the first place.
He probably beached the boat because he couldn’t swim!