A think his smile, charisma and how he looked in an Armani-designed silk captain’s uniform counted for more than his sea experience or judgement.
The Italians DO have to answer for that.
You won’t hear of anything like this from a Norwegian or Scottish captain. (They provide many of the officers for the world’s merchant fleets.)
Remember about 15 years ago, the cruise ship that sank off of South Africa? The captain and crew were first off in the boats, leaving the mosty British entertainment crew to run the evacuation by small boats and helicopters.
Same story. Like the old joke gun ad, “Italian Mannlicher Carbine, almost like new, never fired, only dropped once.”
Yes, seeing that picture of him where he looked like everybody’s mental picture of an oily Italian cruise-ship gigolo certainly didn’t help the Italian image either!