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 under arm, might easily have been stepping down from an uneventful trip shuttling passengers 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.