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This letter was forwarded to us by our daughter, Michelle. Until
moving to California in May, she too worked for FSSI, in Seattle. Lucy
is a friend of hers.
The first part is the written report and the second part the
photos. Grab a life jacket, sit back, and enjoy! D and K
> This is about the ship that went down from SSI. Well, it was a
> Gardline (competitor) boat, who SSI was working under. Luckily
> everyone survived....
> Michelle
>
> Note: forwarded message attached.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Death of the Ocean Voyager - 2nd try
> Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 17:04:59 -0700 (PDT)
>
> From: Lucy Massimillo
>
> All-
>
> This past Wednesday, my ship, the OCEAN VOYAGER, sank about 300 miles
> offshore
> of Iran. Around 6AM in about 1 meter seas, the navigator went down
> to
> the
> engine room to lower the UBSL pole, so that we could begin
> surveying. The
> chain used to lower the pole suddenly snapped. There was no safety
> chain
> attached and the flange at the top of the pole, which would have
> prevented the
> pole from dropping all the way through the hole flew off. Therefore,
> the
> USBL
> pole fell 3000 meters down to the bottom of the ocean, leaving a 12
> inch
> hole
> in the ships hull. As you can expect, water started flooding the
> engine
> room.
> Crew members tried to fit a metal plate over the hole, however this
> proved to
> be impossible due to the pressure of the water.
>
> Non-essential personnel, including myself, were immediately transfered
> by
> FRC to
> our chase boat, the MICLYN SEARCHER. Meanwhile, the crew continued
> to
> try to
> contain the flooding. The engines and ship power were quickly shut
> down,
> and
> emergency power was turned on. The pumps on the OV and the MS proved
> too
> small
> to be effective, so the engine room's watertight door was closed
> dogged
> down.
> Unfortunately, this door was not exactly watertight, and water
> proceeded
> to
> flood compartment next to the engine room.
>
> Meanwhile, MAYDAY called were issued from both the OV and the MS. The
> first to
> respond was a Coalition Warship, which later turned out to be the USS
> SEATTLE
> (AOE 3), a fast combat support ship. Since it would take a while for
> the
> SEATTLE to arrive, a Canadian C-130, and a Japanese helicopter were
> dispatched
> to our location. These aircrafts remained with us until the end.
> Soon,
> a US
> helicopter also arrived carrying with it 2 large pumps and a damage
> control
> (DC) crew to operate the pumps. When the equipment and personnel
> were
> safely
> lowered onto the OV, the helo returned to pick up and deliver a third
> pump.
> Unfortunately, two of these pumps became clogged with debris, and the
> DC
> crew
> were never able to get them to operate.
>
> The Commanding Officer (CO) on board the SEATTLE was informed by the
> DC
> crew the
> the only chance that the OV had to stay afloat was if divers were
> dispatched to
> try and repair the hole. This solution was rejected by the CO. As a
> last
> ditch effort, a tarp was unfurled over the side and under the keel to
> try
> and
> cover the hole and slow the flooding. However, this effort proved
> futile.
>
> Eventually, the SEATTLE arrived on site. The CO assessed the
> situation
> and
> decided that despite all efforts, the OV was going to be a "long-term
> loss."
> He instructed all crew and instruments to be removed and the ship was
> then
> abandoned. When all crew member were onboard the MS, the Captain and
> Party
> Chief made one last trip back by FRC to try and release the second
> towfish (the
> first was released earlier by FSSI marine techs) and try and retrieve
> whatever
> personal effects that they could. Things retrieved from my cabin
> included some
> undergarments, my camera, 3 bottles of alcohol, on flip flop (right
> foot)and on
> Teva (left foot), various souvenirs, and my camera. However, things
> such
> as my
> wallet, house keys, cell phone, address book, and CD's now reside on
> the
> bottom
> of the Arabian Sea.
>
> It took a few hours before the OV finally sank, but when it happened,
> she
> went
> down by the port bow. It was a extremely sad sight for all.
> Afterwards,
> the
> MS sailed through the floating debris and was able to retrieve the
> two
> towfish,
> along with the 8 life rafts, which had automatically deployed. The
> MS
> then
> began a rather rough 16 hour transit to Muscat, Oman.
>
> While the MS was steaming, the crew of the former-OV spent the night
> consuming
> the salvaged alcohol, and trying to sleep on spare mattresses, which
> were
> placed on the deck for us. Once we arrived in Oman, it took many
> hours
> for
> officials to take statements and issue visas. The crew of the OV was
> then
> taken to a hotel, where we cleaned up, put on whatever clothes we
> could
> find
> (my outfit included a sarong, and a white t-shirt), and went shopping
> for
> clothes, shoes, and toiletries. Crew members, who were able to save
> their
> money and credit cards, supported those of us who lost everything.
> Not
> only
> did they buy us things that we needed to travel home, but they also
> supplied us
> with plenty of beer and tequila shots at the hotel bar.
>
> We left Oman very late Thursday night and spent the next 24 hours on
> airplanes.
> The Seattle, WA based crew returned home on Saturday afternoon, and
> we
> were met
> at the airport by the president of our company, the Survey Manager,
> and
> the
> Engineering Manager. One of my co-workers was also met by his
> family,
> who flew
> all the way out from Virginia.
>
> I cannot even venture a guess on what will be the repercussions of
> this
> event.
> Besides our personal losses, my company lost about US$2 million worth
> of
> uninsured gear, including 20 km of fiber optic cable (10 km of which
> was
> flaked
> on the deck in two 5 km pieces due to a previous incident), a
> traction
> winch, a
> hydraulic power unit (HPU), and lots of electronic and computer
> gear.
> Additionally, it is unknown how much of the data, from the survey,
> was
> recovered. I do know that there are already gaggles of lawyers
> hovering
> around
> and I am relatively certain that there will be many lawsuits between
> my
> company
> (FSSI), our clients (Gardline), and their clients.
>
> While this was an extremely harrowing experience, I am thankful that
> everyone
> was able to safely get off the ship. I am fully aware that things
> can be
> replaced, while people cannot. We were very lucky that this happened
> in
> daylight hours in calm seas. We were also lucky that we had a chase
> boat
> following us and a Navy warship, so close by.
>
> Since I lost my address book, I no longer have contact information
> for anybody. Please reply to my Juno account (lmassimi@ju*.co*) and
> send
> along your address & phone number.
>
> Thank you,
> Lucy
> **********************
> If you want to see the sinking boat....
>
> Note: forwarded message attached.
> Subject:
> Ship Sinking Website
> Date:
> Wed, 17 Jul 2002 15:17:35 -0700 (PDT)
> From:
> Lucy Massimillo
>
> Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me. I
> would like to let you all know that
> I am fine. Except for a small cut on my
> finger, from climbing the cargo
> net into the chase boat and a large
> hangover the next day, I am relatively
> unscathed.
>
> I have set up a website with some
> pictures from the ship sinking for
> anyone who is interested. The address is:
> http://lmassimillo.tripod.com/
>
> My company has agreed to reimburse us for
> our lost personal belongings.
>
> Our client (and incidentally, the owner
> of the ship) wants to continue the
> survey. FSSI has already ordered new
> equipment which will be ready to go
> on another ship (sans myself) in about a
> month.
>
> I am taking the next couple of days off,
> and have already been informed
> that I will probably be heading back out
> to sea in a couple of weeks to do
> a cable survey from the Oregon coast to
> Seward, Alaska.
>
> Hope that everything is well with you
> all, and keep those addresses and
> phone numbers coming so that I can update
> my files.
>
> Cheers,
> Lucy
>
>
--
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