Sailor survives 12 hours afloat in ocean after falling off cargo ship

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

It does make you think just how long you could survive if you're ever left...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...4oct14,0,3695641.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

Sailor survives 12 hours afloat in ocean after falling off cargo ship

By Rafael A. Olmeda
Staff Writer

October 14, 2004

A man who fell off a cargo ship Tuesday night survived for more than 12 hours, buoyed by his life vest and rescued by three alert fishermen who, at first, mistook the man for a log.

Gurjit Singh, 28, was admitted to North Broward Medical Center on Wednesday in fair condition, hospital spokeswoman Jenny Mackie said.

Coast Guard officials said they began searching for Singh at 10 p.m. Tuesday, after he was reported missing from the deck of the Tatiana L, a 480-foot cargo vessel motoring off Port Everglades. The Coast Guard cutter Dolphin searched the waters until 4 a.m. before calling off the search for the night.

As the search resumed Wednesday morning, fishermen Mike Genoun, his brother Meir, and their friend Chris Young set off at 6:30 a.m. from the Hillsborough Inlet. Four hours later, Genoun said, he and the others on his boat spotted what they thought was a log in the water.

"But then the log waved at us," he said.

The three raced to find Singh, conscious but badly dehydrated and unresponsive, and pulled him on board. Genoun said Singh's lifejacket was blackened, making him difficult to see in the water. Singh also had a small whistle, but did not appear to have the strength to blow into it, Genoun said.

Coast Guard officials arrived within minutes and Genoun brought Singh to shore, where paramedics rushed him to the hospital.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4207.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Marc

 

[htn123]

..........

The three raced to find Singh, conscious but badly dehydrated and unresponsive, and pulled him on board. Genoun said Singh's lifejacket was blackened, making him difficult to see in the water. Singh also had a small whistle, but did not appear to have the strength to blow into it, Genoun said.
......

This is why I totally believed in the orange sausage. Blow it up, hook to your BCD and everyone can see you even when you are unresponsive.

Not that Mr Singh would have one with him when he felt but I sure do carry mine all the time when I dive, just in case.

Glad it turned out to have a good ending.

 

[Cudabait]

This is why I totally believed in the orange sausage. Blow it up, hook to your BCD and everyone can see you even when you are unresponsive.

Not that Mr Singh would have one with him when he felt but I sure do carry mine all the time when I dive, just in case.

Glad it turned out to have a good ending.

It's good you carry yours when diving. Thisguy probably does not know what a BCD is and sausage is something to eat. It would seem he did have on a type 1 PFD and I'm glad he is OK.

Regards,

 

[archman]

I don't get the "blackened" bit. Sounds to me like he was wearing a dirty work-vest. Dang news articles can't even tell us what class of PFD the dude was wearing... oh the humanity.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

I don't get the "blackened" bit. Sounds to me like he was wearing a dirty work-vest. Dang news articles can't even tell us what class of PFD the dude was wearing... oh the humanity.

They showed the vest on the news yesterday. It was "black" in spots - it almost looked like it had black mold, but it must have been soiled from the ship - oil and ground-in grime.

It was an orange life vest with large sections of flotation material built in.

Marc

 

[Mo2vation]

I mean, wow.

How far a fall is that? So they walk around on the ship wearing their vests at all times? Nice. We don't even do that on the little dive boats.

Unreal. Can't believe the guy is OK. I can only imagine if he hit the Pacific... its gotta be a lot colder here.

Glad he's OK. Well, will likely be OK.

K

 

[archman]

How far a fall is that? So they walk around on the ship wearing their vests at all times? Nice. We don't even do that on the little dive boats.
K

I have to do it on NOAA ships too. I think it's some sort of OSHA requirement or something. However, there's a big difference between a work vest and a Type I or II PFD. They're much smaller and less awkward. I forget which classification (III or IV?) they fall under, but they're not considered "survival" lifejackets. Since they're constantly worn, they tend to get rather filthy. I've worn some that were brown, caked over with spilled mud from coring. For U.S. ships at least, crew are assigned a true Type I survival PFD, used for actual emergencies and drills. They're normally kept in the crew quarters. Those are the bulky, absurdly bright orange rigs that'll float you dead or alive, in just about any sea condition.

 

[Web Monkey]

This is why I totally believed in the orange sausage. Blow it up, hook to your BCD and everyone can see you even when you are unresponsive.

Not that Mr Singh would have one with him when he felt but I sure do carry mine all the time when I dive, just in case.

Glad it turned out to have a good ending.

Dump the weights, blow up the drysuit, blow up the 9' yellow sausage and start honking the air horn!

FWIW, I've started carrying a water bottle on ocean dives. Not sure how long a liter would last, but it's better than nothing.

Terry

 

[scubadoguk]

Sorry if this is not the right way to post this but I can say been-there done that I posted this some time ago on deco stop and here more recently
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=765558&postcount=37
I hope I don't bore you all bringing that old chestnut up again

 

[DamselDiver]

I work on commercial ships as an engineer. The sailor probably was wearing a work vest, otherwise he would have had the SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) required strobe on his vest and would have easily been spotted by the SAR (Search And Rescue) team that night. IMO (International Maritime Organisation) is the worldwide governing body that oversees SOLAS there is no OSHA in the international maritime community.

SOLAS are the rules and regulations that specify required maritime training and minimun lifesaving equipment required on merchant vessels under the IMO umbrella, ie lifeboats, liferafts, lifejackets, survival suits, EPIRBS, emergency radios and SARTS (Search And Rescue Transponders) among other things.

All documented mariners are certified in basic lifesaving and the use of survival equipment under the provisions of the treaty. The fact that the mariner was wearing a work vest supports the notion that he was a trained and documented deck hand.

I hope this background information puts the news article in context

Cheers
Cheryl