Thrown Out to Sea to Die, Edith Maersk to the Rescue

Originally published on Facebook Notes, October 2012. Archived here.

Indian Ocean, South of Dondra Head — October 15th, 2012

It was a cloudy morning, there wasn't much traffic. We were proceeding as per schedule to Singapore. At 10:00 I was alerted by a faint Man Overboard call on channel 16. The message was noisy however from what I could gather, there were two men overboard in position 05 30 N 081 14 E. I immediately plotted the position on the chart, found it to be close to the course line and informed the Master.

Master decided to assist the vessel who made the distress call. From subsequent messages we learnt that there were two Sri Lankan fishermen in the water, MV Lusail had managed to rescue one and had lost visual with the other owing to poor visibility. We along with Safmarine Kariba proceeded to assist MV Lusail. Safmarine Kariba had nearly deviated 60 miles from her path.

All Hands on Lookout

The whole Bridge team, cadets, ABs and OS were stationed as lookout on the Bridge. Third engineer and one painter were sent forward and repairman and another painter were sent aft. Down below the engine room was manned by Chief Engineer and his team of engineers. The entire ship was on alert, looking out for the lone fisherman. The Second Officer and Master calculated the estimated position of where to find the fisherman, from his last sighted position and the effect of prevailing wind and current.

As we approached the MOB position, MV Lusail abandoned search and proceeded to Sri Lanka with one of the fishermen. We coordinated manoeuvres with GKM Princess who too had come to assist from a reciprocal course. Though it was close to a busy shipping lane, there were only three ships in the area searching for this lone fisherman and two of them were Maersk vessels.

The Dolphins

A few minutes passed in the area. Second Officer shouted man overboard on port bow. However it was found to be just playful dolphins. We now started turning around when Chief Officer shouted Man Overboard and this time it was indeed a man on our starboard bow. The playful dolphins were jumping around him. At last the man had been spotted. The Chief Officer later informed us that he had just followed the dolphins the Second Officer had spotted earlier. On retrospection it looks like the dolphins had led us to the man. When we spotted him they had quietly disappeared.

The cadets were instructed not to lose sight of him at any cost. Chief Officer and two ABs were sent to prepare the MOB boat. Two other ABs and I were sent to prepare the starboard gangway. As a result of swell the Captain wanted to try picking him up from the gangway before we lowered the MOB boat.

As we prepared the gangway the Master and Second Officer manoeuvred the ship close to him. Slowly but steady we approached closer and closer to him. The tired fisherman managed to swim towards the gangway. One of the ABs pulled him out of the water as we cheered him on.

What We Found

However the joy of finding him was short lived. Besides being naked and bruised in several places, he had a very long and deep cut on his neck. We were all shocked. Many of us could not look at his wounds. It looked like somebody had tried to sever his head. We took him to the infirmary as soon as we could and covered him up in warm blankets.

Chief Officer contacted the Danish radio medical for advice and proceeded as per their instruction. I was assisting him administer the medicines. We were both in shock on examining his neck. I wondered how he was not attacked by sharks or other predators that appeared with the slightest scent of blood. It is likely the dolphins had fended them all off. Seeing the extent of his wounds Captain decided to proceed to Sri Lanka. We still had to stitch his wounds. This was no easy task as we could clearly see the inside of his neck. However the Captain and Chief Officer stitched his neck calling upon all what they had learnt in their medical course. Soon afterwards he fell asleep and I was to monitor his condition.

Getting Help

Meanwhile on the bridge the Second Officer had turned the ship around and plotted a course towards Sri Lanka. He had been trying to contact Colombo MRCC. There was no reply. He tried calling all the close by radio stations with no avail. Then another Maersk vessel came to the help. Svendborg Maersk who was proceeding towards Europe helped contact the Sri Lankan Navy. She acted as the relay station conveying our message to the Sri Lankan Navy and vice versa. The navy instructed us to meet them at a position close to the entrance of Dondra Head traffic separation.

His Story

An hour before we planned to drop him off I woke him up. The Chief Officer had to conduct a final medical examination. After this we gave him a small meal. He spoke no English or Tamil, but he did understand a few English words. I tried talking to him. From what I could understand his was a tragic story. His boat had been attacked by a group of men with knives around 0200 local time. Everyone had been tied up and thrown overboard. He and one of his mates managed to free themselves and had held on to some kind of float until they were spotted by MV Lusail. He had been in the water nearly 12 hours before we pulled him out. This was one strong and determined man.

Even though he was a Buddhist, the crew onboard presented him a bible with all our names written in, to show him that our prayers were with him for his speedy recovery. The management decided to present him with a pack of chocolates and some money to get his life back on track. It was not much but it was a start.

Later in the evening the Sri Lankan Navy picked him up at the earlier decided rendezvous point. The Master thanked every one of us for our part. "Fantastic job. If it weren't for everybody's team work and coordination it would not have been possible," he said.

At the end of the day I went to bed tired and exhausted, but with a feeling of joy and satisfaction that had no measure, for I will always remember this day as the day when we saved a man lost at sea.

— T. Ayinesh Kumar, Third Officer, Edith Maersk

This post was originally written on Facebook Notes in October 2012 and has been archived here. Facebook discontinued the Notes feature in 2020.