This story may just change the saying 'Warri no dey carry last' to ' Warri no dey die for sea'.
Ship's cook, Nigerian Harrison Okene, 29, was on board the Jascon-4 tugboat when it capsized on May 26 due to heavy Atlantic ocean swells around 30 km (20 miles) off the coast of Nigeria,
while stabilizing an oil tanker filling up at a Chevron platform.
At 4:50 a.m. on May 26, Okene says he was in the toilet when he realized the tugboat was beginning to turn over. As water rushed in and the Jascon-4 flipped, he forced open the metal door.
"As I was coming out of the toilet it was pitch black so we were trying to link our way out to the water tidal (exit hatch), three guys were in front of me and suddenly water rushed in full force. I saw the first one, the second one, the third one just washed away. I knew these guys were dead."
"As I was coming out of the toilet it was pitch black so we were trying to link our way out to the water tidal (exit hatch), three guys were in front of me and suddenly water rushed in full force. I saw the first one, the second one, the third one just washed away. I knew these guys were dead."
Turning away from his only exit, Okene was swept along a narrow passageway by surging water into another toilet, this time adjoining a ship's officers cabin, as the overturned boat crashed onto the ocean floor
Ten other crew members died and one is still missing. Many of them were locked in their cabins as a precaution against pirates.
He was able to get himself into an air bubble just 1.5m by 3m, where he perched on a table to keep himself alive, breathing inside a four foot high bubble of air as it shrunk in the waters slowly rising from the ceiling of the tiny toilet and adjoining bedroom where he sought refuge, until two South African divers eventually rescued him.
"I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it's the end. I kept thinking the water was going to fill up the room but it did not. I was so hungry but mostly so, so thirsty. The salt water took the skin off my tongue." Okene told Reuters today in his home town, Warri. . Seawater got into his mouth and parts of his skin peeled away after days of soaking in the salt water, but he had nothing to eat or drink throughout his ordeal.
Okene, wearing only his underpants, survived around a day in the four foot square toilet, holding onto the overturned washbasin to keep his head out of the water.He built up the courage to open the door and swim into the officer's bedroom and began pulling off the wall paneling to use as a tiny raft to lift himself out of the freezing water.
Ten other crew members died and one is still missing. Many of them were locked in their cabins as a precaution against pirates.
He was able to get himself into an air bubble just 1.5m by 3m, where he perched on a table to keep himself alive, breathing inside a four foot high bubble of air as it shrunk in the waters slowly rising from the ceiling of the tiny toilet and adjoining bedroom where he sought refuge, until two South African divers eventually rescued him.
"I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it's the end. I kept thinking the water was going to fill up the room but it did not. I was so hungry but mostly so, so thirsty. The salt water took the skin off my tongue." Okene told Reuters today in his home town, Warri. . Seawater got into his mouth and parts of his skin peeled away after days of soaking in the salt water, but he had nothing to eat or drink throughout his ordeal.
Okene, wearing only his underpants, survived around a day in the four foot square toilet, holding onto the overturned washbasin to keep his head out of the water.He built up the courage to open the door and swim into the officer's bedroom and began pulling off the wall paneling to use as a tiny raft to lift himself out of the freezing water.
He sensed he was not alone in the darkness.
"I was very, very cold and it was black. I couldn't see anything," says Okene, staring into the distance.
"But I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them. The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound. It was horror."
Then in the afternoon of May 28, Okene heard a team of divers sent by Chevron and the ship's owners, West African Ventures, were searching for crew members, assumed by now to be dead.
"I heard a sound of a hammer hitting the vessel. Boom, boom, boom. I swam down and found a water dispenser. I pulled the water filter and I hammered the side of the vessel hoping someone would hear me. Then the diver must have heard a sound."
"I was very, very cold and it was black. I couldn't see anything," says Okene, staring into the distance.
"But I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them. The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound. It was horror."
Then in the afternoon of May 28, Okene heard a team of divers sent by Chevron and the ship's owners, West African Ventures, were searching for crew members, assumed by now to be dead.
"I heard a sound of a hammer hitting the vessel. Boom, boom, boom. I swam down and found a water dispenser. I pulled the water filter and I hammered the side of the vessel hoping someone would hear me. Then the diver must have heard a sound."
Divers broke into the ship and Okene saw light from a head torch of someone swimming along the passageway past the room. “I went into the water and tapped him. I was waving my hands and he was shocked," Okene said, his relief still visible.
Divers were shocked to have found Okene alive more than 60 hours after the ship sank, and said they were amazed by how calm he was during the rescue. Because he had been 30m underwater his body had filled with nitrogen and divers had to put him into a decompression helmet before he could be safely brought to the surface.
Okene says he spent another 60 hours in a decompression chamber where his body pressure was returned to normal. Had he just been exposed immediately to the outside air he would have died.
The cook describes his extraordinary survival story as a "miracle" but the memories of his time in the watery darkness still haunt him and he is not sure he will return to the sea.
"When I am at home sometimes it feels like the bed I am sleeping in is sinking. I think I'm still in the sea again. I jump up and I scream," Okene said, shaking his head.
"I don't know what stopped the water from filling that room. I was calling on God. He did it. It was a miracle."
Divers were shocked to have found Okene alive more than 60 hours after the ship sank, and said they were amazed by how calm he was during the rescue. Because he had been 30m underwater his body had filled with nitrogen and divers had to put him into a decompression helmet before he could be safely brought to the surface.
Okene says he spent another 60 hours in a decompression chamber where his body pressure was returned to normal. Had he just been exposed immediately to the outside air he would have died.
The cook describes his extraordinary survival story as a "miracle" but the memories of his time in the watery darkness still haunt him and he is not sure he will return to the sea.
"When I am at home sometimes it feels like the bed I am sleeping in is sinking. I think I'm still in the sea again. I jump up and I scream," Okene said, shaking his head.
"I don't know what stopped the water from filling that room. I was calling on God. He did it. It was a miracle."
Thank GOD... GOD'S everything you want HIM to be... fear not... de sea is where I belong now... #God's my fortress#
ReplyDelete