Tropical depression Odette, which took shape on October 11 in the Philippines Sea, was hurtling towards the Philippines coast at 65-80 km an hour. The forecast was that waves would rise as high as four-and-a-half metres. The next day, as the depression deepened, Hong Kong registered cargo ship, M.V. Emerald Star , with a crew of 26 Indians and a cargo of 55,000 tonnes of nickel ore, was sailing in the vicinity of the storm’s path.
The Emerald Star had left Buli in Indonesia and was expected to dock in Lianyungang in China three days later. But as the sun rose over the Philippines Sea on October 13, there was no sign of the ship.
Caught in the storm and very rough waters, the Emerald Star sank in the Philippines Sea, about 280 km from the eastern coast of Philippines.
What happened to the Emerald Star that fateful night?
Here is the story, pieced together from various accounts of those who lived to tell the tale.
It was all over in about 10 minutes. Around 1.30 a.m. local time, the Emerald Star was hit by the full force of Odette’s fury. In the blinding rain with fierce gusting winds, the ship began to roll and pitch wildly; suddenly it began to list sharply as well. The unpredictable nickel ore cargo may have played no small part in this.
Unsure of the stability of the ship that was being tossed around by the giant waves, an alarm was raised. An announcement was made on the public address system asking all crew members to wear life jackets and assemble immediately on the deck, and prepare to abandon ship.
Distress alert
The captain of the vessel, Rajesh Ramachandran Nair, also sent out a distress alert.
As they gathered on the deck, ready to abandon ship, the movement of the vessel was so severe that waves flung some sailors overboard. A few slipped and fell into the rough waters while the others jumped to avoid sinking with the ship.
Four sailors — the captain, third officer Giridhar Kumar Subramaniam and two others were on the bridge. As the vessel listed even further, a giant wave entered the bridge and sucked out one of the officers.
The distress signal was received by the Japanese Coast Guard and it sent out an alert to its units and vessels in the vicinity of the last known position of the Emerald Star to attempt a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation.
In the cold, heaving sea, the sailors struggled in darkness and rain., with waves crashing all around them. The events had unfolded so quickly that there had been no time to launch life rafts on the side that was not listing. As the ship sank, the sea was covered in oil.
“We were in the water for a few hours and were rescued only at daylight,” some of the rescued seamen told the families of those missing.
Over the next few hours, the Coast Guard vessels and other ships nearby rushed to the area. Around day break, five of them were rescued by MV SM Samarinda, while 11 were rescued by MV Densa Cobra.
According to one account, as the ship sank, oil started leaking. “It seems to have covered their bodies completely. One of the boys said he was trying hard to prevent the oil from getting into his eyes,” Saravanan Palanivel, brother-in-law of Suresh Kumar Subbaiah, fourth engineer, said quoting one of the rescued sailors. Mr. Suresh Kumar is still missing.
Given their ordeal in the raging seas, the arrival of the rescue ships was not much help. The rough seas and hours of being in the cold water had weakened the sailors who found it difficult to grab the ropes thrown by the rescue ships. “It took seven attempts for me to catch a rope,” one of the survivors recalled.
Another account narrated to the families of the missing details how a sailor was not able to clutch the rope thrown to him, and by the time the second attempt was made, he was swept away.
“Everyone was wearing a life jacket but it seems these four people were on the bridge and hence could not jump. But they had made an exit plan when the water was entering. It seems at that time, a wave crashed into the ship and this sailor was thrown overboard,” Uma Sri, wife of Mr. Giridhar Kumar said, quoting an account given by a sailor who survived the episode. “So we believe that all of them must have come out”.
As per the original plan, Mr. Giridhar Kumar was expected to have flown home to Pollachi from China after the Emerald Star completed its voyage, to meet his one-month old baby girl whom he has never seen. He is also missing.
The Indian Navy despatched a surveillance aircraft, a Boeing P-8I to help in the search efforts. But the search made no headway, with continuing bad weather hampering operations.
