Safety is no accident

Man overboard, port side!

It gets your attention, doesn’t it?

Having enjoyed the loop-de-loop of yesterday, we were treated to another one today, as the crew sprang into action for a drill which includes running, life jackets, blankets, medical kits, and lowering of the smallest life boat.  All very exciting.

The staff captain announced over the intercom, “For exercise only, for exercise only. Man overboard, port side. Report to stations, Team B.”  Suddenly people were everywhere, rushing to the port side on Decks 5 and 6.

Passengers, too.  Who could resist?  What a day to have left the camera in my room!  My desk is Deck 5, midships, port side, so I saw them rush by the door and then by the window.  We are, of course, not permitted to go out where the action is, but I got a report from a student who watched the drill from the dining room.

A dummy was thrown overboard, and a life preserver thrown after it.  But the dummy did not catch the life preserver, and so the launch was lowered to go help, loaded with medical supplies and blankets.  In the meantime, my source tells me, dolphins arrived on the scene to surround the fake guy.  Dolphins are very smart, and I’m sure they can tell the difference between a real drowning person and a dummy, but maybe they wanted to get in on the fun, too.

The ship made a tight turn (the tightest turn it can, anyway) and we felt it heeling as it went back to pick up the imaginary passenger.  Looking out the window, we could see a great arc of wake.

The ship has fairly frequent drills, most often a call to stations for evacuating passengers, (which is hard to simulate as we’re strolling around the decks).  It’s interesting to me to see how everyone has a part to play.  Today I saw line officers, cooks, and housekeepers, as well as people in white jumpsuits, blue jumpsuits, and khaki (uniforms whose inhabitants’ roles I cannot pinpoint).  Disaster can move more quickly than men in white jumpsuits, so practice is important. 

A new friend, Leah, who has sailed on several voyages, told me she wanted no part of the drill today.  She saw a man overboard rescue in 1999 on the Red Sea, and that was quite enough for her.  Late one night, a student decided he would like to “touch the sea,” and lowered himself over the rail with a life preserver.  The life preserver was swept away when he hit the water and it took a few hours to rescue him.  By that time I suppose he had sobered up.

I was surprised not to find more documentation of this online.  Here’s an amazingly offhand account from the Executive Dean of that voyage, and a third hand report from someone who sailed on a subsequent voyage (almost to the bottom of the page.

The 1999 voyage was a different ship and a different sponsoring university.  Not that we don’t have our share of drunk students making poor choices, but I thought the disclaimer was only fair.  I am confident that the crew then was just as concerned with getting everyone back safely as we are.

Tomorrow is Burma.  Venomous snakes, parasitic worms, and a river so shallow they are dredging it for our arrival.  But so worth it.