Ayinesh Kumar

The Day We Saved Emma Maersk

Unknown — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Originally published on Facebook Notes, February 2013. Archived here for posterity.

Port Said North Anchorage — February 1st, 2013
It was a normal Friday evening as I came up on watch. The Master was on the Bridge and the Chief Officer was forward and had just brought up the anchor. We were third in the convoy, and were to follow another big container vessel. However we had to wait for the vessel ahead to pick up her anchor. Slowly she heaved up her anchor and proceeded to the canal. We made a starboard turn and proceeded behind her.
As we entered the buoyed channel from the north anchorage we could immediately see the vessel was drifting to port. To keep within the centre of the channel the master ordered a more starboard heading. We were very closely monitoring our track, helm orders were given to keep us right in the centre of the channel in spite of the strong drift. To a layman it would seem we were heading right for the buoy and somehow managing to miss it every time. However the vessel ahead of us seemed to have problems staying within the channel and she kept drifting more and more to the port of the channel. The VTS made repeated calls asking them to head more starboard, but all in vain. The Master decided that we keep a good distance from her.
The VTS called up the vessel ahead again, this time asking if she had hit the port buoy, which the vessel denied instantly. As we passed through, the VTS called us to ask us if we could locate the very same buoy, to which we replied saying we could not see any. It seemed to us as though she had taken out the buoy.
The Alarms</h2>
It was time to pick up the pilot and the Fourth Officer was sent down to pick him. What followed was something unexpected. The manual fire alarm was triggered in the shaft tunnel. I immediately acknowledged the alarm. At first my thoughts were that it was just one of those false alarms and somebody had mistakenly cracked the glass. But soon bilge alarms in the shaft tunnel went off and we received a call from the engine room informing us that water was filling up the shaft tunnel. In a couple of minutes the water tight door from the shaft tunnel had to be sealed and I thought we had the problem under control. However it was not to be, even though the water tight door was sealed and holding, the water soon made its way to the engine room. The engine room was filling up with water very quickly.
On the Bridge, we had alarms going off every couple of seconds. The Master instructed me to take care of the alarms and he would take care of navigation. Once the pilot came up on the bridge, he immediately instructed a new helm order. Clearly he was unaware of the strong drift. The Master quickly appraised him about the drift and the vessel's condition. He further instructed the pilot to stop the convoy. The Pilot informed the port control. We had a very large LNG carrier following us and we were going to lose the Main Engine very soon. The Master instinctively increased the speed.
Racing Against Time</h2>
The Chief Officer, who had been woken up and sent to investigate, reported water was rapidly filling up the engine room. The engineers had very swiftly started the bilge and ballast pumps to get the water out, but the pumps could not keep up and the water rushed in to fill up engine room.
The Second Officer was called to assist on the bridge. Once he was up on the bridge he was given a quick status report and Master instructed him to call the company and inform them of the situation. As the company was being informed the pilot informed us about a Chief Pilot who was to board our vessel.
I was sent to pick him up. The fourth officer along with an AB was sent to prepare the anchors and lines forward. The Chief Officer was back up on the bridge and he took over from the second officer. The second officer then was sent aft to prepare the lines for the tug. Once I had brought the Chief Pilot up to bridge I was instructed to proceed forward.
At the forward station the fourth officer and AB had prepared the anchors for let go and lines for the tug boat. We were going to turn into the Suez Canal Container Terminal from the North. We were to lose power very soon, so the Master instructed me to prepare for emergency brake release of the anchor windlass.
Meanwhile the Chief Officer had been instructed to prepare the lifeboat for launching. In no time we were ready to launch the lifeboat. We were ready to abandon ship if it came to that. Thankfully it did not.
Getting Her Alongside</h2>
Soon the tug boats arrived and we had to make them fast. However the lines had been prepared for the port roller lead and we now needed them on the centre lead. We had to shift the line. Additionally the Master wanted two lines from the centre lead so we had to get another line ready as well. We worked as quickly as we could to transfer the line and get another line out of the forecastle deck store. The lines were lowered to the water and the tugs started pulling even before we had made the lines fast on the bits. I informed the Master who made sure the tug stopped. We made the lines fast on the bits ensuring both lines were of the same length. Once fast the tug started pulling. We made our way into the turning basin of the Suez Canal Container Terminal.
The next problem was to stop the vessel. We were heading for land and the tug boats were unable to stop us. The Master ordered to let go the port anchor first — 2.5 shackles in the water. As soon as this was done he ordered to let go the starboard anchor as well, 2.5 shackles in the water. Finally we had managed to stop her.
Just when I thought I had enough action for one night, the stern started swinging in towards the pier. The wind had changed direction from northwest to southwest. The tug aft tried to stop our stern but the line parted. The second officer sent out the line again and it parted again. The stern went over the pier and then back. We soon found ourselves nearly alongside however the bow was still outside the pier's limit and we had to move aft if we had to be within the reach of the gantry cranes.
The Long Haul</h2>
The Master then instructed the second officer to prepare two stern lines and I was instructed to let go the anchors one by one until they were slack. This would normally have meant just pushing a button, but we had lost power on all our winches. So now the task was to manually open the hydraulic brake. We took turns in pumping and got the brakes open. Then we had to do the same with the other anchor as well. The Master instructed me to keep both the chains slack.
At the forward station we were constantly pumping and switching back and forth between the anchors. I could see everybody's energy draining out. The pumping was getting slower and slower. Then the engineers, repairmen and painters came forward to assist us and we continued pumping to keep both the chains slack all the time. We were slowly moving aft and slowly within the reach of the gantry cranes. We had kept pumping and pumping and soon we reached the full length of the chain. Everybody was dead tired now. All the pumping had drained us all.
At the aft station the Second Officer had managed to get two stern lines on. He along with a few ABs, OS, Chief Steward, cadets and engineers had managed to pull up the lines by hand and make it as tight as possible. The Master instructed us to prepare two spring lines forward. Though everybody was tired, nobody was taking a break. All hands were helping in moving the lines. Soon we had the lines on the bollard. It was time to pull up the line again and make it as tight as possible. We all worked as a team pulling up the line in tandem and made it as tight as we could. She was fast on two stern lines and two springs forward.
Aftermath</h2>
It was close to five in the morning when we were finished and we found ourselves sitting in the deck office, drinking soft drinks and talking about what had just happened. We were all yet to digest what had just happened and we did not know what next. We were all very tired. Only a few lights were burning and there was no running water. However the most important thing remained that we were all still safe onboard and unhurt.
A couple of things about the incident still amaze me. Firstly the wind — it was the primary reason we could get alongside. I find it hard to dismiss it as a mere coincidence. It is possible that the wind changes direction every year on the very same day and at that particular time, but for us to be in the basin at that exact moment is more than just a coincidence.
Secondly the Master's instinctive reaction to increase speed when he knew we would lose the Main Engine. We would not have made it to the terminal otherwise. I guess that is what you call experience.
Thirdly the way the Master and Chief Engineer handled the whole situation. Even under normal conditions entering the canal is quite stressful — you are maintaining watch on at least two different VHF channels and there are a lot of ships calling the port control and so it is very noisy and to top that there could be strong winds and current causing real concerns. The Master had remained calm throughout, never raised his voice or changed his tone. He seemed relaxed and in control. The Chief Engineer closed the water tight door at the right moment and had kept the bridge well informed at every step of the way.
Finally the crew — at no point was there any real panic among the crew. The whole crew was up lending a hand wherever needed. Everybody did exactly what was asked of them. As the Master later remarked: "We did exactly what was supposed to be done and we couldn't have done it any differently."

Emma Maersk moored safely at the Suez Canal Container Terminal and all containers were discharged.

Note: My memory is a funny thing. This is how I remember it. I have probably missed a few details and it is not exactly in sequence. The views expressed are solely mine and it is by no means an official account. Only a thorough investigation will reveal what caused the incident.
— T. Ayinesh Kumar, Third Officer, Emma Maersk

This post was originally written on Facebook Notes in February 2013 and has been archived here. Facebook discontinued the Notes feature in 2020.

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

Unknown — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

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</h2>
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</h2>
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</h2>
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</h2>
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</h2>
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.