A chance of stranding was averted
Dear reader, your first look at this short narrative you may
think that his happened in 1906. Not really, this happened in 2006. And this
was one the series of consequences I suffered for ignoring God’s message. God
loves his creations.
All this was due to a wrong decision I took to leave a good shore
job I was doing and to join a ship outside my regular company.
It
was a beautiful morning on February 20, 2006, at 09 00 hours in the Eastern
Atlantic off the coast of West Africa. The general cargo ship, “Cape Agulhas”, under my command was approaching the port of Lobito, and the
distance remaining go was about twenty nautical miles. The ship suddenly
stopped due to another power failure. All three generators on board had
major problems. However, one was doing the job . It was the third power failure
experienced during that short voyage. The engineers got on with repairing the
generator.
When
the ship stopped twenty miles south of the entrance to the port of Lobito, my
thoughts based on the information on the ocean currents chart that the ship
would drift northward with the Benguela Current
setting in that direction; no need to be alarmed. Further, the current
would push the ship towards the harbor entrance. The only consolation during
this entire time had been the fine weather.
Besides
mechanical problems, there were also administrative problems. I had not come
across a in competent second engineer who was onboard at that time. Adding to
that, whenever I spoke with him, he talked about experiences he had had on two
or three dead ships, ships that he had been onboard which had to be towed.
Those were very discouraging stories.
Due
to incompetence of the second engineer, the chief engineer had not wanted him to interfere. But without listening to the
chief engineer, this person had made worse the condition of the only working generator.
The
moment I was informed of the situation, I called the agents at Lobito via the
VHF set onboard and informed them that we were having problems with the
generator and it was being repaired. As soon as the repairs were complete we
would proceed towards the pilot boarding ground of the port. The person I spoke
with was Carlos from the ship’s local agent at Lobito. He was extremely helpful
and kept in constant contact with the ship.
While
waiting for a miracle to take place, at around 16:00 hours on that day, I had the worst possible news from the chief
engineer, the generator had completely
ceased to function due to overheating. That was the grand finale!
I,
immediately called Carlos and informed him that the ship was now without motive
power—it was disabled and required a tug’s assistance to tow it to port. He
agreed with my suggestion and later called and informed me that a port tug with
pilot onboard would be arriving to tow the ship. I received this news at around
1700 hours.
Darkness
was enveloping the that part of world around us. It seemed so symbolic of what
lay ahead in the coming hours. This was a rough battle and those of us who
venture out to the sea prepare to battle not only the natural storms but the
storms of life.
It
was a woeful situation for everyone onboard. Each was wondering what was going
to happen. I instructed the chief officer to prepare both anchors in case of an
emergency – the ship was in anchoring depths and the depth in that location was
about sixty feet.
I
was incredibly happy about the way the Myanmar officers and crew acted during
this crisis situation. The ship’s galley was non-functional as it was an
electrically operated facility. But the two cooks and crew set up a wood-fired
stove on deck and brewed tea and prepared the evening meal for all onboard. It
was a commendable action. Fresh water had to be drawn manually from a tank
which was in the after part of the ship. The boatswain opened the cover of the
tank and drew water with buckets for cooking and washing purposes. A few
members of my crew supplied fresh water for my bathroom.
It
was a great effort under such a hopeless and dangerous situation; the morale of
my crew was at peak. I thanked God for their enthusiasm, unity, and fellowship
in the wake of a calamity. We used emergency lighting after sunset. According
to my last terrestrial observation it appeared that the ship was getting closer
to land. However, there was no way to confirm the position. Under the
circumstances, I advised all officers and crew members to be extra vigilant.
It
was dark in the crew accommodation area and none of the crew members went to
their cabins. They were all wandering about on the after deck.
At
around 2215 hours a port tug came along to tow the ship. As the tug approached,
I called the pilot and requested him to ascertain the position of the
ship.
The
pilot said, “Captain, according to my position your ship is only 2.5 nautical
miles from the nearest partly submerged rocks. In my opinion, according to
estimated direction and strength of current the ship would strand within
approximately four hours. Please tell your crew to hurry and give a strong line
from the ship to connect-up and start towing.” I instructed the chief officer
accordingly and the tow line was connected and the tug commenced towing the
ship at around 2245 hours.
I
thanked God for saving us from stranding.
Cape Agulhas was a big ship and in a “fully
loaded” condition. It took some time for the tug to gather momentum and pull
the ship forward. None of us slept that night. I took short naps on the bunk in
a cabin adjacent to the navigation bridge.
At
daybreak, we found that the ship was remarkably close to the entrance of the harbor.
Another
tug was called and attended around 1000 hours. The pilot and the two tug
masters did a commendable job and the ship was towed into the port and was
docked safely at around 1200 hours. It was nice to be in a safe place.
I
thanked and praised the Lord.
