Maritime students often consider a theoretical approach to subject matter a waste of time: “seafaring is a practical job and pondering can endanger safety in a crisis”, is an opinion often expressed. In this paper I show how theory is crucial when analyzing more complex phenomena, such as leadership. I claim that a person’s sense of what e.g. is just or honorable influences the decisions made. For example a captain’s values concerning the crew could be decisive when considering whether to evacuate or not. I apply ethics on the case of the s/s Flying Enterprise and her Danish captain who stayed on board the listing vessel alone in the Atlantic. I show how theoretical perspectives give different answers to the question why the captain stayed on board.