Last Man Off by Matt Lewis

Author:Matt Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

14

15:55

SATURDAY, 6 JUNE 1998

Where were the officers of the Sudur Havid as we were abandoning? I thought someone would yell orders, co-ordinate a safe evacuation, act as a rock in our time of need. I thought each man would have his role to play: his radio call to make, his muster station to ready, his rescue bag with flares and radio to prepare. I was wrong.

If there was an order to abandon ship, no one heard it. The siren sequence reserved for emergencies went unused. If anyone was still below deck, they could be left behind. Bubbles watched us launch the rafts but was now lost in himself, staring out of the wheelhouse windows again. Boetie had disappeared from the bridge and was out of sight. Joaquim and Carlos, having helped to launch the life-rafts, had raced to the stern of the boat. Klaus and Glen, two of the highest-paid people on the boat, had merged into the crowd on deck, waiting rather than taking control. And where was Bjorgvin?

• • •

The three rafts were now all tethered near the stern, their bobbing orange canopies luminous against the dark clouds and grey sea. In just over an hour, the light would start to fade. Within two hours, it would be pitch-black. If rescue was coming, it needed to be quick. Standing on the deck between the rope crates and the funnel, I checked the crew around me; it was better to stay busy and not to think about it. Some were still unable to fasten their lifejackets and without the cords correctly tied they were useless. Trevor had his lifejacket properly secured, so I used him as an example. ‘Like this, Kanime, over the head, straps round the back and tie!’

I tried to offer words of encouragement amid the confusion.

‘Everything will be fine,’ I said, as much to myself as to anyone else.

Charlie Baron joined me. He told me that, in the case of an abandon-ship, we should remove our boots. As well as hindering our swimming, they might have hooks in the soles that would rip the rubber rafts. I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t expect to swim far, and we would need as much insulation as possible, but I didn’t argue and pulled them off. My feet shifted inside their layers of already soaked socks. The cold metal deck sucked away their heat. I made my way down the line of crew, checking that more lifejackets were on and that boots were off.

Eugene and Brian leant back against the guardrail and held up their feet so that I could pull the boots free. They could hardly bend over in their constricting lifejackets. Big Danie’s boots were sealed so tightly over his ankles that the zips were jammed.

‘Just keep them on, Danie, you’ll be fine.’

I got to Alfius, the greaser and ‘qualified second engineer’. He clutched a brown leather satchel to his chest. The rafts would be crowded enough without personal possessions. I was about to tell him to get rid of it, when I noticed it was tied to his lifejacket, through the straps.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.