This week a special occasion and honor to acknowledge the professionalism and loyalty to one of the oldest kept traditions and rules on board ships:" Every State shall require the master of a ship flying its flag, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the crew or the passengers:
(a) to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost;
(b) to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress…”
This occasion and honor on behalf of Marshall Islands Flag State to attend the vessel and meet the crew of mt. "KUFRA" managed by Synergy Germany. (Synergy Marine Group )
The crew went to rescue 4 sailors from a sailing yacht after her mast, stanchions and sails were damaged and not sufficient fuel on board to reach port in detoriating weather conditions.
I recently read the book "Last man off", and clear that b) "all possible speed" is so essential to maximise the chances to find survivors. As in the book it took 4 hrs for mt. KUFRA to reach the distress call position. Same time as in "Last man off" though the weather was bad the 4 sailors were not challenged in arctic conditions. Getting the sailors on board the 115.000 DWT Tanker is the next obstacle when you have survivors floating in the sea or on board a survival craft. An attempt with use of pilotladder was unsuccesfull. So the ships crane was used with a personnel transfer basket.
While such equipment is pretty much known to most professional seafarers, this kind of equipment is mostly unknown to the majority of leisure motor- and sailboat people who challenge the sea and the oceans. All 4 sailors without major injuries were brought on deck of mt KUFRA. End good all good, but for each and everyone at sea or crossing oceans valuable lessons are there to learn from this case. A VSMC will require investigation and is completed with a report containing conclusions and recommendations. I would recommend to also review and analyse succesfull SAR of people at sea and share conclusions and recommendations.
Thank you Crew of mt. KUFRA for your hospitality during the visit in port of Rostock and handover of the Certificate of Commendation.
Management of Synergy Germany, Hamburg thank you for arrangements to issue the Certificate at your office.
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