What you read below is a first person account by Capt. Vijay Rana who led his team on Teesta Spirit to rescue 114 human lives. He shared this with some of us. And I sought his permission to post it on my blog. The entire article is written by Capt. Rana. I took the liberty to change font to Cambria Size 12 at 18 pts line spacing :-)
Sometimes circumstances may place you in situations which will test your all resolve and leave permanent impressions on
your life .
Kindly read below narration to experience our story .
After completion of cargo discharging ,
Teesta Spirit sailed out of Zawia ,
Libya at 10:30 LT on the 28th July 2014 for Tuzla , Turkey .
Vessel received INM-C message from MRCC Rome and
a VHF call from Vessel “AssoTrenta” , advising us to urgently contact MRCC
Rome. Soon after , At 1700 LT / 28th
July 2014 , I telephoned MRCC Rome . The call was forwarded to Italian
Coastguard . It was informed that our vessel was the closest to the position
of a overloaded boat in immediate danger of sinking with about 117
persons onboard . Vessel was instructed to proceed to position 33 36 N /013 14 E and rescue the distressed persons at sea .
Vessel altered her course and increased her
speed to Max safe RPM ; toward the probable position of persons in distress. I announced on the PA
system and instructed crew members to proceed to main deck area and start preparations to receive the persons .Also SSO was advised to implement security measures as
per level 2 .
At 1706 hrs I informed TTS and TML about the
start of deviation to save life at sea .
Also Agents at Zawia were contacted as
the vessel was still in the Libyan Waters . There was no immediate response
from Libyan Coastguard or the Agents.
At 1736 Hrs Lt I made First Alert
notification . For security reasons , we
first passed close to the boat to determine if the people
were actually distressed persons at sea and do not pose any prima facie security risk to the Ship.
In the meantime ChOff - Makarov and ChEng –
Kostrya confirmed back to the bridge
that the Engine room and accommodation is fortified and only access from outside
now restricted to A Deck Stbd side.
The boat was very much overloaded and men ,
women , teenagers were seen waving for help . Ship’s whistle was sounded to
indicate to distressed persons that they have been spotted and will be rescued shortly . Vessel was
maneuvered close to the boat and lee was created for the boarding . Weather was slight
condition , however there was long swell
.
The ship’s starboard side accommodation
ladder was prepared with additional
‘safety wire’ to take load , just incase many people try to board at once.
By 1823 LT the Boat was alongside moored with
two gant line fwd and aft..
Stbd side Manifold area was cordoned off and a lookout made responsible to watch from the heightened catwalk
so that none of the rescued people leave the cordoned area.
ChCook
was instructed to prepare rice and Soup for more than 100 persons , and
arrange juice biscuits and drinking water at Manifold area.
2AE Somil and Deck cadet – John were made
incharge of tagging each rescued person and then making the List with name ,
age , sex and nationality .
Using Ship’s PA system ,I Announced to the occupant of the rubber boat to let the Ladies and Children board first . In situations of Distress all the civility is lost , and all
powerful survivors started to push each
other and fight with each other . ChOff
stood his ground and made very clear to them that they have to behave and
be orderly . Bosun – Blancaflor , was
made incharge of security checking
persons and checking their belongings
for knife , weapons , lighters , tools etc.
After some minutes the normalcy was restored
in the distressed crowd and people started climbing the Gangway one by one . All
male were body frisked by ship’s crew and all females were told to body frisk
each other . No weapons were found , Their belongings were just some old
clothes.2Off – Marcin was taking care of
sick / exhausted people .
At 1916 Hrs LT in position 33 43.7 N /013
14.2 E , the transfer of distressed persons was completed . Total 114 persons rescued ; 89 Male and 25 female . There was no child however some
appeared to be teenagers. All were given
water and biscuits to boost up there energy levels . 2Off reported that few of
the Pregnant ladies have just collapsed on deck due to exhaustion . All
Pregnant Ladies (5) were encouraged to have fruit juice , sip by sip and slowly their health was
improving . Derelict’s position was passed to MRCC Rome .
At 1934 hrs LT vessel was instructed to
proceed full speed to Capo Passero , Sicily .I requested Italian coastguard if the
pregnant ladies and sick persons can be off landed at Malta , as it was the
closest land and on the way to Capo Passero .Never got back any reply and
appeared only Italy will accept these people.
Capt Raffaele
(TTS) and Mr. Tan were also
giving feedback and had already started contacting PandI
and Insurance .
The dinner was served to the rescued persons
, in the meantime ChOff instructed everyone about the basic Tanker safety . Two
rescued men who could speak English were
made leaders of the group.
At 1957 Hrs LT , Italian coastguard
instructed vessel to proceed to Brindisi , Italy . I informed MRCC Rome that Brindisi
was one day more further away than Capo Passero , and we
prefer to off land these people as soon
as possible . However Italian Interior Ministry had already decided that all
rescued persons would be received at the port of Brindisi and Coastguard did
not had any say in this .
All the rescued persons were assembled near
the 1Ws cargo tank , this location was sheltered due to raised foc’sle and
could always be monitored from the Bridge .Blankets , Bedsheets and pillows were provided to all the sick and needy persons .Near the Anchor
hawse pipe a safe and temporary arrangement was made as for responding to the
calls of nature.
By now there were three sick persons requiring
medications .CIRM was contacted for medical advise . Mr. Alberto Di Mare , an
Italian national sailing as technician from
Sea Service & consulting s.r.l was
God send to us . He was utilized many times whenever language difficulties were
experienced in communicating with
certain Italian authorities . CIRM
medical advise was implemented .
I informed MRCC that vessel does not have
approach charts of Brindisi and that is
why the pilot should come with the charts . JHA was completed and discussed
with the Bridge Team .
29th July was mostly uneventful
day . Regular medication was being administered to sick people . In general everyone of them
were looking more healthy and happy . For basic Hygiene , it was decided that
arrangements be made for at least one bath for each of rescued persons who
wanted to clean themselves . For privacy , temporary Bathrooms with curtains were constructed below the Manifold Shower / Eye wash station , Port
side for men and Stbd side for Women .Taking the opportunity ,barring some all
refreshed themselves .
Morning of 30th July . It all
appeared in control , sick persons had
almost recovered , medication was being
administered as per CIRM advice .
Then I overheard on the Walkie Talkie that
the deck duty person reporting to the
Bridge that a woman has collapsed on
deck and her friends are saying that she
is having heart attack ! I rushed to the Bridge , emergency PA announcement was
made and O2 resuscitator , Medical jump kit
and defibrillator was at site in no time . We were able to support her , the medical
vitals were on the edge but the collapsed lady was slowly responding
positively.
Vessel was about 50 nm from the Brindisi
port however the closest port on Italian
coast was Otranto , about 18 nm away . I
contacted Italian MRCC and CIRM , to arrange for medical evacuation
by Helicopter . Coastguard came back
that they do not have Helicopter in vicinity and rescue will be effected by the Coastguard SAR
patrol boat .
In
ballast Condition Teesta Spirit is fond of dancing and only those who have
sailed on this vessel can explain how
bad it is . Some joke that Teesta Spirit will roll even in swimming pool !
The weather
in present location was beaufort
scale six and there was moderate sea and swell .Now there were real safety concern about off loading the sick
person who is half unconscious on to a small patrol boat , so at first I resisted and told coastguard that I will proceed to Brindisi . Just at this time 3rd
Off – Ronell reported back to me that
another lady has collapsed and having difficulty in breathing , with very rapid
pulse .
At this time I called up Otranto
Coastguard to send SAR patrol boat with
the doctor and we started proceeding full speed towards the safe location outside the port .There was a
lot of coastal shipping traffic ,We
broadcasted on the VHF to all the ships in vicinity to keep clear of us as vessel was engaged in saving life . All
vessel kept giving us the way and we proceeded straight towards Otranto.
I instructed 3Off Kurt to check if we had chart for this port , he
reported back that there were none ! Then I Asked him to quickly refer to the
Pilot Book and to find out the safe direction of
approach .
In the mean time this patient stopped
breathing two times for almost a minute , but we continued with forced artificial respiration with
medical oxygen . Thank God , we were able to revive her both times .
Bosun on instruction prepared the Stbd accommodation ladder 1 mtr
above the water level.
I
instructed Mr. Alberto to contact
Otranto Harbour Master and inform that the Vessels max draft as 9
mtrs and to give us ‘Remote Pilotage’
guidance from VTS . Also requested the Patrol boat to come as far as possible
as own vessel will not cross the 50 mtr
depth contours as after this the depths reduce very fast. I requested the Doctor to board
the ship as the patients were not in good condition .
At
1115 hrs LT vessel first sighted
the SAR patrol boat , own vessel was swung hard to port to create lee on the Stbd side ,
Speed was progressively reduced to zero .
And a
MIRACLE happened , Teesta which is
really notorious for rolling , remained
rock steady ! NO rolling even
with Beaufort six seas and moderate swell pounding her on the whole portside .I
watched this and crossed my fingers .
At
1132 hrs LT , Dr.ssa Paola Baldaccini
and Inf. Fino Daniele of 118 of hospital Card.Panico di Tricase (LE) , boarded
the vessel . They stabilized all the
critical patients for the voyage of another 3 hours to Brindisi .At 1415 hrs
the Medical team safely debarked and yes, Teesta was still absolutely rock
steady.
At 1715 hrs Lt Brindisi pilot boarded us with required Approach and Harbour charts
.At 1830 hrs LT vessel was all made fast
to a lay up berth . There were more than 50 cars / Vehicles and some 200 officials/ paramedics waiting to receive the rescued persons .
By 2030 hrs LT all the rescued persons debarked . Italian police interviewed
Me , Bosun and ChOff . They took the
copies of Deck Log Book and Manoeuvering
Record Book . Also all the photos of rescue operations were copied by the
Italian Police .
At 2354 hrs LT we sailed out of Brindisi for Tuzla Turkey for Dry Docking.
After thoughts :
============
We
rescued 111 Somalians (Other 3 were Ghanian), saved their life , treated them
properly with respect and dignity. I wish the same treatment is given to the
captured seafarers who are held in Somalia .If this incident changes minds of
even some Somalians , we will achieve something more on, 'Save Our Seafarer'
Campaign .
In public memory some disasters are more highlighted
by media and Master is very easily branded as 'Captain Coward ' etc , I am
referring to the incident of passenger ship Costa Concordia .
The saving of life at sea by various
Masters should also be equally
highlighted by the mainstream media , to change perception of public ,that mostly there are ' Captain Saviour ' at sea .
Also in some Shipping forum with Governments
we should discuss about the efficiency in rescue situation. We had Malta / Augusta (Capo
Passero) closer to us for landing these people , but the ship was finally instructed
to proceed to Brindisi .
Concerns are that:
-Delay in off landing may cause medical
issues with the rescued persons .
-Extra burden on crew and depleting resources
in conjunction with the
Security risks
-Extra expense on the owner for bunkers and
lost time.
Pumpman- Mr. Manuel had recently lost his
mother .Funeral was on hold , awaiting his arrival .The SAR operations have
delayed him by more than two days .He tells me that he still felt peace in his heart
as he was part of the effort in saving so many lives and his mother's soul
would be happy about this .
Last
but not least , I thank God that no lives were lost during this rescue
operation and the whole ship staff supported me well in their respective
assigned duties.
This incident has touched many lives and leaves a happy and permanent impression on my
mind and soul .This will definitely be
one of the favorite stories that my 4 year daughter Bhakti , would like to hear before going to bed !
As I complete
this article , Teesta Spirit is back to her old ways … Yes dancing rock
and roll … may be she is happy to save so many lives at sea or maybe she is happy that she is finally going to get
new paint makeup at Dry Dock !
Thanks for reading.
Capt. Vijay Rana
