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OH DEAR

Mr. and Mrs. Richardson.
Mrs. Richardson in Arctic water wearing lifejacket.
Norwegian lifeboat heading away from Mrs. Richardson.
Lifeboat circled to pull Mrs. R. out of the water, the blue arrow indicates her position.
MS Ocean Countess.
When rescues go wrong they can really go wrong this is one of those occasions.  In a report today from the United Kingdom comes word of a passenger in MS Ocean Countess, Mrs. Richardson, who was taken ill onboard and it was decided to transfer her ashore.  The cruise ship was cruising the Norwegian Fjords and the Norwegian Rescue Service lifeboat responded.  However originally a helicopter transfer was planned but it changed to a lifeboat response.  In transferring the patient by stretcher from the vessel to the lifeboat the six (6) stretcher bearers lost control when the lifeboat lurched and its stern swung away.  Mrs. Richardson fell into the freezing water of -3°C. in which she struggled for some eight (8) minutes.  Fortunately she was wearing a lifejacket and once back in the lifeboat was rushed to hospital in Bodo, Norway which is just north of the Arctic Circle.  She has now been transferred to Cumberland Hospital in Carlisle, Cumbria, UK.  We at NAUTICAL LOG wish the Richardson's well and a full recovery.  


It was a most unfortunate incident and shows all too well the difficulties involved in transferring persons between large and small vessels at sea.  In the photo there seem to be fenders rigged on the lifeboat but no boatrope is visible from the MS Ocean Countess. NAUTICAL LOG had a similar incident years ago, while handling the small craft, during a personnel and equipment transfer fortunately on that occasion only a load of equipment fell into the water.  After that the USNS vessel decided our repeated requests for a boatrope to be rigged were valid.  It then rigged one using a heaving line!!


Good Watch

Please remember the seafarers held captive by pirates off Somalia - let us work with India to free them.

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