Should the foundering and loss of the ship have become inevitable, the Master may decide to abandon the ship.

在船舶的沉没、毁灭不可避免的情况下，长可以作出弃船决定；

youdao

We were not much more than a quarter of an hour out of our ship till we saw her sink, and then I understood for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering in the sea.

离开大船不到一刻钟，我们就看到它沉下去了。这时，我才平生第一次懂得大海沉船是怎么回事。

youdao

Small wonder, then, that Mr Levy's resignation was seen as a canny attempt to make as unratlike a departure as possible from Mr Netanyahu's foundering ship.

ECONOMIST: Can Binyamin Netanyahu��s government in Israel survive?

Master Mariners license, I suggest that you take a moment and watch this most amazing video of the successful rescue of 14 sailors from the foundering ship The HMS Bounty.

FORBES: HMS Bounty Rescue: The U.S. Coast Guard is Amazing

Although in recent months she has taken some very welcome moves to right a foundering ship, she still has a long way to go before convincing the markets that Argentina will at last get serious on her watch.

ECONOMIST: Argentina