Friday - April 01, 2005
Gulf of Aden: Drama on the High Seas, Part 2
It was right around dusk on April 30 when the Captain came on the PA system from the bridge to announce that he was going to slow the ship right down to about 1 knot because there was a tanker off to our port side that needed our assistance. He said the person he was speaking to on the tanker sounded very distressed and panicky because a crew member had had a terrible accident and was in a very bad way. Because of a language barrier he couldn't tell how badly hurt the crew member was, but we were going to send one of our doctors over to the tanker on a tender boat to see if we could give some assistance.
I was lying on a massage table, being pummelled about like so much pizza dough, when the Captain first made his announcement, but as soon as I could escape I ran to my cabin to grab my camera. No camera in the bag or anywhere in the cabin, so I figured Mike must have taken it and he'd be up on deck somewhere. Up I went, but couldn't locate Mike or my camera, so I stood back and watched the ongoing drama as the tender carrying our doctor made the short trip over to the freighter.
Because we were in the Gulf of Aden, just off the coast of Yemen, some passengers were convinced that this was all a terrorist plot to either lure us closer or to take our doctor hostage. Another woman standing beside me was afraid that we were getting too close and that we were going to run into each other. It's amazing what some people can find to worry about.
But the situation was just as described, and shortly after our doctor boarded the freighter, she radioed back to say that the injured crew member had died. The announcement was made to us just as the sun was setting in the distance, and it very poignantly brought home, once again, how fragile life is for all of us.
We stayed on deck to watch the tender return from the freighter and then be hauled back up the side of the boat, with the doctor and tender crew still inside. As the freighter pulled up anchor and sailed away, I had to think how distressed its other crew members must be at what had just happened, while we would all change for a gala dinner and our Black and White Ball and carry on with life as usual.
(Photos are courtesy of Mike Alexander and Suzan's camera.)