I wouldn't expect a captain to go down with his ship. I would, however, expect him to remain aboard until every conceivable means has been exhausted in order to save the lives of his passengers and crew. If even a single passenger remains aboard, and there is any way to rescue her, the captain should be at the forefront of the efforts. The captain should be the last person off of the ship.

There was an incident some time ago with a Greek-flagged cruise ship sinking off the coast of South Africa. That captain, and crew, also abandoned his ship and passengers. Makes me wonder if there shouldn't be some sort of psychological testing for persons placed in such positions of authority. But it's certain that they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. From what I understand, that Greek captain was not. The Greek government refused to turn him over for prosecution. Fortunately, no one died on that ship. This one....