Mohammed Rubel, a crewman of Bangladesh vessel MV Hope, breaks down in tears upon seeing his brother after he returned home alive yesterday, four days after the vessel tilted in the Andaman sea.
Five crewmen rescued alive after Bangladesh vessel MV Hope tilted in the Andaman sea four days ago returned to Chittagong yesterday and broke into tears during an emotional welcome by kith and kin, fellow mariners and port officials and spoke of the horror they went through while trying to get off the claws of death.
Picked up from the rough sea by a Chittagong-bound Liberian scrapped ship MV Buxmoon, they reached the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port on Monday night.
On Tuesday morning they were brought to Patenga’s shores and rushed to a private clinic in the city, where doctors said they were suffering from high blood pressure due to drinking saltwater from the sea.
They are Deck Cadet Md Moklesur Rahman, 4th Engineer Md Abdul Hakim, Deck Fitter Mohammed Rubel, Oiler Mohammed Osman and General Steward Saiful Islam.
MV Hope started rolling dangerously at sea around Wednesday midnight when all the five were asleep. Some of them woke up and alerted the captain of the impending danger, as the ship appeared to be tilting on one side.
“Receiving captain’s emergency call we all wore life jackets and gathered at the Master’s cabin and stayed there until the engine stopped and the captain ordered us to abandon the ship,” said Osman, the oiler.
Captain Rajib Chandra Karmaker told his crew that he had sent distress call to all vessels in the area and help would be on their way soon, said Saiful of Satkhira, who was on his second voyage.
As the ship tilted, it became impossible for the crewmen to reach all emergency life boats except one. Twelve of the crews jumped into the life raft but the rest five fell into the choppy water.
The captain then requested the Buxmoon crew over walkie talkie to rescue the five from the sea. After two to three hours, the life boat suddenly turned upside down, leaving all scattered in the sea, said Osman, who could not be rescued until around 10:00am the next day.
“I felt hurt and suffered pain while trying to grasp the ropes (thrown from the MV Buxmoon) and at one stage all my strength was exhausted. I felt sleepy. Then I started thinking of my daughters to keep myself alive,” Osman added.
4th Engineer Hakim said the Filipino crew and captain of the Buxmoon treated them well after rescuing the five. Six crewmen including the ship’s captain were still missing.
Officials of MV Hope’s manning agent JS Shipping said the five in hospital would be provided necessary healthcare.
Source: The Daily Star