Is it compulsary for the captain to die with sinking ship?

Answer 1

No it is not. It is customary for the shipmaster ("captain") to be the last person to leave a sinking vessel. In most maritime states (countries) licensing or certificating shipmasters ("captains"), the law of the state's registry of ships and the law governing masters requires that he or she stay with the ship as long as possible within the limits of reason and safety to himself before getting off. The master is responsible for the ship, the people, the cargo, the voyage and the environment -- even it the ship sinks or is destroyed -- until properly relieved by the owner of the vessel by his sending another qualified master to do so. The old notion that the master went down with his ship was one of practicality. Where else could he go in a catastrophe? In the past he was usually a part-owner and financially responsible for his part of the maritime venture. In that sense it was much like jumping out of a window on Wall Street after financial reversals -- which in the maritime business can be huge. See, J.A.C.Cartner, R. P. Fiske, T.L. Leiter The International Law of the Shipmaster (2009) London: Informa/ Lloyds.