[QUOTE=GB.Murph;63129]It’s Sécurité, not Security. (not that it matters, it sounds the same, just being pedantic)
I disagree that Pan Pan was really sufficient, to be honest. Holed and uncontrollable flooding in multiple compartments, total blackout without any reason to believe that power might be restored quickly, and drifting close to a lee shore. Those 3 factors say to me that Mayday is the appropriate level of urgency. Having said that, I wouldn’t have strongly faulted them if they had at least put out a Pan Pan within 15 minutes of the initial incident. Establishing distress contact with the coastguard is the important thing, the level doesn’t really matter too much, unless you found yourself in a rare situation where there was already a distress situation on 16.
It’s the extremely long delay in declaring distress, including actually being in contact with the coastguard and failing to honestly disclose the situation, that I consider to be gross negligence and likely to have contributed to loss of life.[/QUOTE]
Sécurité is French ! 
You should have called the captain to tell him that the vessel was flooding in more than 2 watertight compartments, because until the vessel was virtually back aground, nobody knew the extent of the damage. As soon as the engine room confirmed that more than 2 compartments was flooded, the captain ordered evacuation. Also, what is the need to send a Mayday call if the Coast Guard was kept informed regularly of the new development. The vessel was not totally black out since the emergency generator was doing his job perfectly well. A total black out is a total black out. NadaZero.
Finally, gross negligence is a carelessness in reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others, which is so great it appears to be a conscious violation of other people’s rights to safety. It is more than simple inadvertence, but it is just shy of being intentionally evil. Gross negligence is a conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or both. It is conduct that is extreme when compared with ordinary Negligence, which is a mere failure to exercise reasonable care.
Ordinary negligence and gross negligence differ in degree of inattention, while both differ from willful and wanton conduct, which is conduct that is reasonably considered to cause injury. This distinction is important, since contributory negligence—a lack of care by the plaintiff that combines with the defendant’s conduct to cause the plaintiff’s injury and completely bar his or her action—is not a defense to willful and wanton conduct but is a defense to gross negligence. In addition, a finding of willful and wanton misconduct usually supports a recovery of Punitive Damages, whereas gross negligence does not.
You should try to moderate yourself. It is a quality needed to take a command.