‘Master of the sea’ watched over us, rescued skipper says
Published: August 8, 2007
The skipper of a crew that narrowly escaped a fast-moving fire aboard a fishing vessel off Newfoundland’s east coast Wednesday says all hands feel lucky to be able to describe their harrowing encounter.
“We had someone looking after us,” Harold Stokes told CBC News on Thursday, describing how flames quickly engulfed the Nautical Legacy about 130 kilometres off St. John’s.
“He was certainly the master of the sea,” said Stokes. “And he watched over us.”
After a fire was discovered aboard the 19-metre vessel, which was heading to port with a load of crab, the crew had only moments to prepare for a plunge in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
A mayday call was issued at 12:22 p.m. NT, but the vessel lost all contact only seconds after sending it.
“The flame was right through her, most everywhere,” said Stokes, who lives in Bareneed, Conception Bay. “Wherever you looked, there was smoke and flame.”
A crew member collected the survival suits, but one of them was inadvertently left behind, meaning one man among the six-member crew would be forced to jump in the water without protection.
Michael Petten, 18, the last on deck, was wearing only shorts and a T-shirt when he jumped in the water.
“As soon as I hit the water, the air went out of my lungs,” said Petten, who also lives in Bareneed.
“It’s just like someone hit me with a sledgehammer, like I had no more air left in my lungs … just gasping for air, is what it was.”
The crew spent well over 90 minutes in the water, without knowing if anyone else was even aware of their plight.
“We didn’t know if they got the mayday … we were hoping and praying,” said Stokes, who was not able to trigger an emergency beacon that could have helped lead rescuers to their position.
As seconds slipped by, Stokes said his thoughts turned constantly to his grandchildren. He and the others also fretted about Petten, whose body became numb as hypothermia set in.
What was going through my mind was Michael … There’s no way any human body, I say, can stand that cold,” he said.
“We were starting to feel the cold through our feet and our back, through the survival suits,” Stokes said. “It’s the Lord’s will that he stayed alive.”
The crew’s fears that they might die unnoticed proved unfounded, as the mayday call had been heard.
Search and rescue had dispatched a Cormorant helicopter from Gander, although a private fixed-wing aircraft arrived on the scene first, providing valuable information to the rescue crew on how to respond as soon as they reached the fishermen.
A technician plunged into the ocean with a rescue basket, and — starting with Petten — brought each member of the vessel’s crew aboard the Cormorant.
Stokes had nothing but praise for the rescue crew. “They should get a medal,” he said.
All of the fishermen were brought to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s for observation and treatment.
The crew do not know what caused the fire.
Both Stokes and Petten said that while they were shaken by the incident, they are keen to take to the water again, and resume their fishing careers.
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