Crew tells Star of his horror; 5 survivors reach home
It was a miracle for Abu Bakar Siddique, the mariner of Bangladeshi vessel MV Hope which tilted dangerously in the Andaman sea in the early hours of July 4, to return to life from the claws of death.
The 57-year old seaman, now undergoing treatment at Wachira Hospital in Phuket, along with three other rescued crewmen, was narrating his plight over phone of the horrific day when the ship tilted dangerously.
Thai Navy officially called off the rescue operation at 6 pm yesterday urging fishermen to keep an eye for six missing Bangladeshis. Five of the nine rescued crew members returned to Chittagong yesterday on the same ship that had rescued them from the rough sea on July 4 in Phuket.
Deck Cadet Md. Moklesur Rahman, 4th Engineer Md. Abdul Hakim, Deck Fitter Mohammed Rubel, Oiler Mohammed Osman and GS Saiful Islam were rescued by a Liberian freighter ship BUX MOON which was heading for Chittagong port at the time of the rescue. The five rescued men took a lift with the rescuers to return home.
At around midnight Bakar and the second officer Mobarak Hossain noticed that the ship was tilting as the cargo inside was rolling from one side. At once they called on the captain who later asked all the crew to come on the deck.
The captain hurriedly sent signals and messages to the nearby ships for rescue and tried to run the ship to the shore but the sea was so rough.
“We waited on the ship for one and a half hours before the electricity was disconnected stopping the engine,” said Bakar, adding that the captain then ordered us to wear life jackets and abandon the ship.
“At one stage when it was impossible for us to stay onboard, we floated a life raft and 12 iof us jumped into it but the rest five including the chief officer could not manage to jump on the raft and fell into the rough sea,” he said.
Being afloat for a while, Bakar saw MV Buxmoon approaching them. When few of the crew tried to catch the ropes thrown from it, the life raft went upside down.
“I thought I died. But when regained my sense I found myself just under the life raft. I didn’t have my life jacket but managed to grasp a rope of the raft,” said Bakar, adding he then managed to get on the raft.
“The crew of Buxmoon noticed me and they tried 5 to 6 times to reach me to me. But they could not as strong waves pushed the raft away. At one stage the vessel sailed off,” said Bakar who remained on the raft till morning when the vessel came back. It was raining then amid strong wind and waves and this time too the crew failed to reach me.
Several hours later Bakar could see a helicopter on the sky and finally, the men from the chopper rescued me, he said. “I am hoping to go back home soon,” he added.
Source: The Daily Star
