His ship may have been to hell and back, becoming a floating coronavirus-infected prison for passengers quarantined at port in Japan, but when the captain of the Diamond Princess cruise ship became the last person aboard to finally step onto dry land, he looked entirely unruffled by the experience.
If it weren’t for the mask on his face, Gennaro Arma, striding purposefully along the dockside in full uniform with hat underarm, might easily have been stepping down from an uneventful trip shuttling passenger from one vacation destination to another.
But those who know him best say the steadfast calm Arma exhibited throughout the ordeal in which more than 700 people on board the ship tested positive for COVID-19 was typical.
It’s why, they say, the experienced Italian sailor is now being hailed as a hero at home and abroad.
“He emerged to be exactly how people have renamed him, ‘Fearless’,” Arma’s wife, Mariana Gargiulo, told media from her home in Sant’Agnello, a beautiful coastal town south of Naples, where the captain is due to return soon.
“He never had any problems, and I never worried because we were constantly in contact.”
The quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess has been widely criticized for intensifying the risk of infection for those stuck aboard. Many passengers were eventually airlifted out, but not before at least five people had contracted fatal infections.
Nevertheless, Arma apparently proved himself a tireless rock for his passengers and crew during their ordeal and he’s been widely praised for helping lift spirits and for setting a noble example of how a captain should deal with adversity.
His support for his crew was on display right to the end when he disembarked on March 2, having overseen the final transfer of all passengers either to the hospital or a quarantine facility.
He called them “my gladiators.”
Throughout the quarantine, he also regularly thanked all passengers on board for their patience and perseverance, leaving them notes of encouragement.
Back in Sant’Agnello his friends, family, townsfolk and local authorities are waiting for Arma’s return, preparing to throw him a huge homecoming party. The captain tested negative for the virus and is currently in quarantine in Japan.
His wife says the captain’s calm and control during the emergency made it easier for passengers to endure being confined to their cabins. It also gave his family a sense of peace and reassurance.
“We talked each day, both by phone and video chat,” she says. “I could hear he was calm, that everything was fine, and I could see that he was fine. He never had any problems.
“I could see him on the ship, he was doing well, working. We had the chance to talk a bit about everything, even our family, and not just about the situation on board.”
Arma, according to Gargiulo, is a real sea dog with decades of expertise that led him to travel around the world after he graduated from a prestigious local maritime school.
His employer, Princess Cruises, has already expressed its gratitude for its captain’s efforts.
“Throughout the response efforts on Diamond Princess, Captain Arma was an exceptionally calm, capable, and inspirational leader for everyone on board,” Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz said in a statement to CNN.
