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Do you think Captain Steve’s choice to abandon ship was the right one or do you think he jumped the gun? Do you think his inability to see his son very often and his being close to retirement age influenced his decision at all? Almost like self sabatoge. His heart and mind are clearly on his son. He loves his crew and doesn’t want any harm to come to them, but did he decide to jump ship more quickly because deep down he knows it will end his career as a Captain? I can’t imagine having to make such a decision. You hold not only your own life in your hands, but the lives of your entire crew. No one knows what they might do in a situation like that until they are in it. I feel like I would be more likely to abandon ship more quickly. I wouldn’t want to risk the lives of my people on a hunch. I personally think that Captain Steve made the right choice given the information he had. However I do think thoughts of being able to see his son more often might have played a subconscious role.

In the situation he was in, there was nothing he could have done. His crew was in danger and their attempts to locate the fire were not bearing fruit. I think his decision was in the best interest of everyone. He risked his job by arriving at it and I do not think that this is a decision to be arrived at easily.

I can see where you're coming from, the subconscious does influence our decision making in subtle ways. However, I think Captian Steve at that moment was acting in the best interest of the ship, he has been captain for several years and in the text, he mentions the importance of staying calm as to not freak everyone else out or miss something vital. When the fire breaks out, it is already at a dangerous level to be controlled and when Captian Steve is informed he does try numerous methods to kill flame. But If I remember correctly, I think they have trouble trying to locate where another part of the fire is, right? They know its there because of the heat, but the heat indicates that it's in a dangerous place and the crew is unable to get to it. That creates a hostile environment on the ship, they have to abort.

If there was any hesitation or other second thoughts to abandon ship, I think it had more to do with possibly losing his job. Yes, the free time would allow him to be with his son more and reconnect, but what's the point of quality time if he doesn't have the funds to pay for his medical bills much less housing bills. The downside to being a parent most of the time is having to leave your kids for extended amounts of time to earn money for their care. It's awful because it removes the parent from playing other critical roles like support. As a result, Captin Steve's guilt I think stems from a deep seed inside of him filled with doubt and wondering if has actually a good father. And if he wasn't, then what a cruel way to met his end, lost at sea with his crew, people who he probably knew better than his own flesh and blood.

His dilemma was great, he still wanted to be captain because he stated that retirement allowances wouldn't be enough to cater for his son's illness. At the time of the fire they couldn't access the store where fire equipment was and the only option was to abandon ship. He had also asked the clumsy engineer,Mark, to check the sensors but he didn't.

He also knew that the owners would try to blame him for abandoning ship. It was a tough decision and either way it wouldn't look right. If they stayed on board they would have been consumed by the fire and the raging sea.

I think he went by this sentiment, "Life is more important than material things." So abandoning the ship was the best decision he made so as to save lives.

I know that Steve regretted abandoning ship once he found out it was still floating. But honestly, if he had stayed aboard with the fire blazing, he would have most likely lost men due to burns and/or smoke inhalation. Just because the boat didn't sink doesn't mean it was habitable any longer. I really feel like he made the best decision, and he ultimately saved the lives of all of his crew.

I do not feel that Captain Steve's choice or decision to abandon the ship was based upon any other factor of which was going on in his personal life. I believe that the choice that he made was in genuine care that his crew makes it off the burning ship. I do not feel that he felt there was a better choice a chance at surviving versus a chance of burning alive with the ship.

That's a very insightful look into the motivations affecting Steve's choice. I think that his choice to abandon ship was based upon concern for his crew. As to his son, abandoning ship would further cause further difficulty for Steve and his son, because Steve would lose his job and source of income. Though arguably Steve and his son are better off at the end when Steve decides that they will live together instead of Steve leaving again to captain another ship. The author hinted that the fire was not an innocent accident - if that's because someone didn't properly fix the fire sensors or arson was involved, I'm not sure.

I honestly can't imagine being on that ship that is burning and thinking anything else than - I NEED TO GET OFF. I mean, I know that he should have thought about the consequences but I think he did the right decision. The ship owners sometimes care more about the ship than the crew or the captain, it seems.

I think he made the right decision. Since there were multiple fires as well as an intense amount of smoke, he made the best call. If he hadn't people could have died either from the fire or from smoke inhalation. The situation could have been much worse if he hadn't made the call. I think the thoughts of his son contributed to his decision, because he realized family is always more important.

The decision to abandon ship was purely based on the responsibility to keep the crew safe. I don't think there was any relation to his son or age.

I think he was more worried about his crew, in the beginning, than he was of himself. Later on though, there were some decisions of his that didn't at all coincide with what the Captain had been in the start. You can blame old-age or his past for that.

As he was responsible for everyone on the ship, he did what he could do to save the lives of everyone. I don't think that would be an easy decision to come at considering it might cost him his job.

You bring up an interesting point about his motives for abandoning ship, but I do think that the safety of himself and his crew was still his primary reason for doing so. As for secondary/supporting reasons, he may very well have subconsciously wanted to find a way to spend more time with his son, even if that meant sabotaging his job.

I guess the decision would largely depend on what a person, in this case Steve, valued much, his work or colleagues. A person who'd want to keep his job would probably not abandon the ship till the last minute hence would have endangered the entire crew. I am of the opinion that he made the right decision.