Captain Known as Cool Under Stress
NAPLES, Italy — The captain of the Achille Lauro, the Italian ship hijacked by Palestinians, was described by friends and relatives as a man with “nerves of steel.”
The broad-shouldered, 51-year-old Capt. Gerardo de Rosa is a veteran skipper who has spent nearly 30 years on the seas.
De Rosa became a sailor at 19 after graduating from a maritime institute in Naples, near his hometown of Castellammare. Two years later he joined the Flotta Lauro company, owner of the hijacked ship, as a stoker’s assistant and rose steadily through the ranks. Before taking over the helm of the cruise ship, he commanded several oil supertankers.
His brother Guido and Flotta Lauro officials in Naples said De Rosa is known staying cool under pressure.
A few years ago, when a seriously ill sailor needed immediate surgery for abdominal infections, De Rosa performed the operation by following instructions from a doctor on the shore.
“Gerardo is a man with nerves of steel and has exceptional self-control,” his 45-year-old wife, Giuliana, told reporters after the ship was hijacked.
The hijackers, who held more than 500 aboard the Achille Lauro and demanded that Israel release 50 Palestinian prisoners, surrendered Wednesday. Italy’s Prime Minister Bettino Craxi said one American passenger had been killed.
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