Disaster at sea

[John]

0500hours and MV Yokohama, a container vessel, was making its way through the water fourty five nautical miles south of the Cook Inlet, the inlet that feeds its way into Anchorage, Alaska. The Yokohama's destination. On the bridge was Able Seaman Kanna Aoki and Third Mate Gorou Yamashita, they were beginning their approad towards the Inlet.

"Man on the wheel" said Yamashita, and at that, Aoki walked over to the helm and took control of the vessel. His hand moving over the knob that sat on the console infront of him, switching it off. "Helm in hand, steering course 010." he replied. "Thank you, 010." the replied came from Yamashita. Soon after, Yamashita spoke again, "Starboard steer, 015" and then a reply from Aoki "Starboard steer, 015.", he turned the helm and... nothing. There was no response, the ship wasn't turning. "Officer of the Watch, helm is unresponsive." said Aoki, as he turned the helm more to make sure he was correct. "Thank you, helm unresponsive" Yamashita replied, as he moved over to the ship's telephone, picking up the receiver. On the other end, the Duty Engineer picked up the phone. "Engine room." he said. A reply came over, "Engine room, bridge. Helm is unresponsive. Can you check the steering pumps?" Yamashita said, his voice unconcerned. This could be, afterall, a minor fault with an easy fix. "Yes ofcourse, give me one moment." The engineer said, and placed the phone down in its housing. As did the Yamashita.

A few moments later, the phone on the bridge rang out and Yamashita answered it. "Bridge". A concerned voice in return, "Bridge, Engine Room. The Pumps are unresponsive." there was a pause from the bridge, before a voice came through. "Engine room, bridge. I just want you to confirm what you have just said". The Engineer responded. "The pumps are unresponsive, we have lost steering.". There was a slight quiver in Yamashita's voice, this was his first ever real world emergency now, something he hoped had never happened, "Okay, thank you."

Yamashita placed the phone down and looked out the window for a split second, it was dark, so very dark. Right next to the phone sat the ships piping system, which he picked up and pressed the button as it was raised to his mouth. "Machinery Breakdown, Machinery Breakdown, Machinery Breakdown. Ship's Emergency Party to the scene. Captain and Communications to the bridge. The breakdown is loss of steering." After doing this, he moved to the Telegraph and pulled on it, down to lever one, to begin slowing the ship down.

Now this wasn't a full ship's muster. The Emergency Party consisted of a few motormen and deck crew to investigate and deal with matters before a full ship's muster is needed. Whilst they mustered, the Captain and communicator arrived on the bridge. The Captain was Yasu Seki, a seasoned mariner whose career spanned over fourty years, starting with the JMSDF and as soon as he came onto the bridge, Yamashita began briefing him. "Morning Captain, we have lost the steering pumped we are currently not under command. I have placed us at Lever one to slow us down. SEP is currently investigated the steering pumps." "Thank you Gorou. I have the ship.". Yamashita nodded, and checked the time, before speaking out. "Captain Seki has the ship, minute 20."

Meanwhile, the communicator had taken his placed by the radio equipment and was already broadcasting a message. "Sécurité, Sécurité, Sécurité this is MV Yokohama in position 58 Degrees, 41 minutes North, 150 Degrees, 40 minutes West. Machinery Breakdown, vessel is currently not under command. Recommend all ships remain clear." He would begin broadcasting this message every 2 minutes, so new vessels coming into radio range would be aware.

And now the wait was on for the SEP to, hopefully, fix the problem.

 

[John]

The ship was drifting, the weather wasn't the roughest Yamashita had ever seen, but it was bad enough to make the ship veer completely off course. He was still on the Bridge, even though his watch had ended 30 minutes ago and the 8-12 Officer of the Watch, Third Mate Shota Kumagai, was on the bridge. Captain Seki was also still on the bridge, the con still under his command. Able Seaman Aoki had been relieved by Able Seaman Ryōichi Koizumi.

Third Mate Kumagi was stood looking at the ECDIS, to make sure that no obstacles came their way. Whilst Yamashita was watching the Radar for any incoming ships to be warned off.

In the Engine Room, the Ship's Emergency Party were investigating the cause of the steering pumps coming to a stop, the motormen were the ones attempted to find out the issue, whilst the deckhands we preparing tools and fire fighting equipment incase the worst came situation came to be. The Pumpman, Setsuko Fujimori, was the person who was IC SEP, he was an older man, mid sixties at least - or so the crew attempted to guess, he was quite secret about his age. No one knew why.

Right now the air was calm, no one was worried. The SEP would get the pumps working again, even if it was just one of them, so they could sail into Anchorage and perform repairs... or so the bridge team thought, until Kumagai spotted something on the ECDIS, he scrolled to zoom in and took a moment to make sure he was seeing it correctly. A shoal. And one they were heading right for. "Captain! Shoal coming on our green four-five." he shouted across the bridge to the Captain, who came over to look at the ECDIS and spoke "Are we going to hit it?" a slight pause from the Third Mate as he made some calculations inside his head... "Yes, I think so anyway." The Captain took his binos to to look out of the window, to see if it was a shoal that was completely submereged or not. "How long?" he asked. "Ten minutes, Captain."

The air was completely still now, all eyes on the Captain. He was clearly pondering his options. "Alright, bring the crew to emergency stations."

"Yes Captain." Kumagai said, and walked to the ship's piping system, picking up the mouthpiece and pressing the button. "Prepare for collision, prepare for collision, prepare for collision. Hand's to emergency stations, Hand's to emergency stations, Hand's to emergency stations." he placed the mouthpiece down and pressed the "General Alarm" button. Which began to blare out around the ship. At the same time, it also blasted the ship's whistle to the same alarm. Seven short blasts, followed by one long.

The crew were fast to muster, everyone knew their job - within eight minutes the crew was fully mustered. Firefighters were in their bunker gear and those responsible for damage control had their equipment ready. It was tense, a real emergency, a rare occassion. The next two minutes passed very quickly, until suddenly. That same voice came over the piping system, Third Mate Kumagai. "Prepare for collision, prepare for collision, prepare for collision. Brace, Brace, Brace." The last of the pipe was practically shouted, and everyone did as they were told. Shouting 'Brace' as they did so, and then... the bang. The whole ship shook violently as they collided with the shoal - the issue however was, as soon as they collided with it, they slipped off it immediately. So there was nothing lodged inside the ship to stop any water coming in.

"Collision, Collision, Collision. The vessel has collided with a Shoal on the forward end. SEP to the scene, Containment to the scene, damage control to the scene." came over the piping system, and the crew in those parties went off. SEP grabbing their Damage Control Packs, whilst containment had more basic packs. Damage control had the more equipment, but had to take more time to get it ready.

Due to the SEP being in the engine room, containment were the first on the scene inside the Foc'sle head and the Captain heard the words he didn't want to hear over the radio. "Flood, Flood, Flood. Flood in the Foc'sle head." came over the radio. The voice on the other end was that of the Bosun, Osamu Amano.

After hearing this, Third Mate Kumagai picked up the piping system once again. "Flood, flood, flood. Flood in the Foc'sle head. Emergency Party One to the scene." Whilst all of this was happening, the communicator was broadcasting a message. Specifically to the United States Coast Guard (Odinson) "Pan Pan, Pan Pan, Pan Pan. MV Yokohama in position 58 Degrees, 41 minutes North, 150 Degrees, 40 minutes West. We have grounded, taking on water. Efforts are being made to control the damage"

When Emergency Party One, Damage Control Team and SEP got to the scene in the Foc'sle head. The water was already waist height, and the Containment Party, a team of five men, were working their hardest to plug the holes that were in the hull. They were of all varying sized and shapes, some could easily be pluuged by a wedge, others would need shorings.

The SEP, Emergency Party One and Damage Control team took over from Containment, who now had to go leave the compartment and investigate the rest of the ship to make sure there is no other damage anywhere.

 

[John]

"Casualty, Casualty, Casualty. Casualty in the Foc'sle head. First Aid party to the scene." came over the piping system not longer after it had came over the radio. Bosun Osamu Amano had hit his head, hard, and was knocked out cold. By the time his team had noticed, he'd been face down in the water for almost a minute and made the radio call. The 2ic of the containment party, the Chief Cook, made the call for all teams to evacuate the foc'sle head and for it's water tight doors to be sealed off after the Bosun was knocked out.

By the time they evacuated, the first aid party was waiting on the deck with the Neil Robertson Stretcher. The bosun was placed inside of it whilst the ship's doctor performed his checks. He was soon carted off to the hospital.

They thought they had won, the compartments were sealed and there wouldn't be enough water to sink the ship from inside the head. However, now that the containment party was out of action, they wouldn't have been made aware of more damage down in the ship's hold - which had been filling all this time. The men returned to their emergency stations to prepare to be stood down.

However, that wouldn't be the case. It was Third Mate Kumagai who noticed it first. The bow of the ship was getting lower, there was a heel to the ship. The waterline was almost at the main deck. "Erm.. Captain. Based on our calculations, there shouldn't be enough water in the foc'sle head to.. well.." he paused, and the Captain spoke up. "What. To do what?"

"Well.. sir. To do that." he pointed to the bow, which was beginning to dip into the water.

There was a tense air on the bridge as the Captain weighed up his options... seconds seemed like hours as he stood there looking out of the bridge. He picked up the radio, communicating directly with the Containment party. He requested them to head down to the hold and see how much water was down there - and if it was possible to deal with the damage.

The containment party made their way down to the hold, led by the Chief Cook. A few moments after they made their way down, the chief came over the radio. "It's a no go Captain, the we can't get down there. There's too much water."

"Damn in!" The Captain shouted as he realised there was no more options - bar one. He picked up the piping system and took one final look at his bridge crew, before speaking into the mouthpiece. "This is the Captain. Stand down from Emergency Stations. Hands to lifeboat stations, Hands to lifeboat stations, Hands to lifeboat stations".

At this order, the bridge team left apart from the Third Mate and Radio Operator. And the crews below left their emergency stations and made way to their cabins to grab their life jackets and hard hats. On the deck, the Chief Mate was organising the crew by the one lifeboat that was onboard. Making sure everyone was there. However, it would be Leading Deckhand Michi Yoshino that would be incharge of launching the lifeboat, inplace of the incapcitated Bosun, who was already being loaded into the lifeboat by the first aid team.

Once the crew were all accounted for, the Chief Mate came over the radio to the Captain. "Crew all accounted for. Ship is mustered at lifeboat stations". After that came over the radio, the Captain nodded to the radio operator, who sent sent out a broadcast. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. MV Yokohama in position 58 Degrees, 41 minutes North, 150 Degrees, 40 minutes West. Abandoning ship. Abandoning ship. Abandoning ship." (Odinson)

After the radio call went out, the Third Mate, Radioman and Captain donned their lifejackets from the bridge and prepared to leave. The captain picked up the piping mouthpiece one final time, hitting the general alarm button at the same time. "This is the Captain. Abandon ship, Abanadon ship, Abanadon ship". The three men made their way down to the aft, which is where the free fall life boat was situation. Once they got there, Yoshino was already preparing the boat to drop. The gripes had been removed and the crew were already inside, it was only the bridge team and launch team left. The good thing was, the lifeboat could be launched from inside, so the launch team entered the lifeboat, followed by the radio man and Third Mate. The final person in was the Captain, who secured the hatch, and then secured himself into his seat.

Moments late, a shout came from the Coxswain "Brace!", and the lifeboat was released. It hit the water with a thud and if people hadn't have secured themselves, they'd be dead. Luckily, everyone had. It began slowly steaming away from the sinking ship, the radioman was the first out of his seat as he activated the SART and EPIRB that were in the lifeboat. Now it was just a waiting game for rescue.

 

[John]

The men had been in the lifeboat for a few days now, the food was running low, the water lower and the fuel even lower than that. Whilst they had had the time, the Coxswain had steered the lifeboat into position whilst one of the Able Seamen had hung out of the door and used the boathook to recover the Voyade Data Recorder and EPIRB - which had been released from the monkey island by their Hydrostatic Release Units.

They had done this because... well, they realised help wasn't coming.

Because they had been waiting so long, Bosun Osamu Amano had passed away from his head injury - had he been rescused and taken to hospital and they would have realised that he had a subdural hematoma and could have saved his life. Now there wasn't just worry amongst the crew in the boat, there was anger. Anger at the Americans. They were off their coast, but had failed to provide even the slightest of a rescue effort.

The decision had been made previously to not try and make their own way to the shoreline, because the boat would have ran out of fuel anyway. And it would be easier for the rescue craft to locate them if they stayed by the sunken ship - even tho the lifeboat had its own SART, and now had one of the ship's EPIRBs.

The radioman had been using the onboard radio to try and call out frequent maydays, but all had gone unanswered. There was nothing.

The Captain had pretty much given up at keep his crew's spirits alive, for both he and the crew knew that they were pretty much dead now. No help was coming.

 

[Nathan]

At the JRCC Victoria, a search and rescue radio operator would be keeping a constant eye on the thousands of radio messages sent each day. It had been a quiet day so far, one of two mechanical faults on vessels were noted but nothing unmanageable. A static, unclear message would suddenly pop through his headset. "Unidentified Vessel, please transmit your last over?" A second static message came through "Unidentified Vessel, say again?" The third message would finally be some what recognisable. The operator would scribble down the coordinators before speaking to the duty controller "Command, we have a sinking vessel inside the American SAR zone. Possibly within their waters? The American's still haven't responded?" "The coastguard are still not back to full strength, I'll call the navy" At CFB Esquimalt, HMCS Vancouver would be off the British Colombian coastline on it's way to it's new home from it's commissioning ceremony. Whilst the Captain is on bridge, a radio message would come through "Foxtrot-Foxtrot-Hotel 3-3-1, this is Maritime Forces Pacific. Divert course to 58 Degrees, 41 minutes North, 150 Degrees, 40 minutes West. Reports of a sinking vessel, Vessel is possibly within American waters --- Do not enter American water's until authorisation is gained" HMCS Vancouver would immediately turn course, picking up speed to full speed. It will arrive in 10 Hours. The JRCC would immediately transfer a message to the stricken vessel, "This is Canadian coastguard JRCC, We have a vessel enroute. What is your souls onboard and vehicle condition, over?" John

 

[John]

The Radioman jumped a little as the voice came over the radio, the air in the lifeboat was instantly filled with chatter as the crew began to hope again. Rescue finally seemed to be on the way. The radioman picked up the mouthpiece and began speaking. "This is MV Yokohama lifeboat. We have twenty seven souls onboard - including one casualty. Lifeboat has ran out of fuel and we are drifting. Over." Nathan

After the call came over, the lifeboat doors were open so the crew inside could keep watch for the ship as it approached. A smoke flare would also be launched into the water - although the EPIRB and SART provided their exact location, it would be easier for the lookouts to spot the boat when theres a massive plume of orange smoke rising from the water.

There was chattering among the crew now, they realised that help was finally on it's way. But their contempt for the Americans grew more. They had completely ignored the mayday and it was just pure luck that the Canadians had noticed that they were being ignored.

 

[Nathan]

​

HMCS Vancouver eventually arrived at the site of the Lifeboat. Noting it was in US waters, it would hold short of the borders before entering.

" Maritime Forces Pacific, this is Foxtrot-Foxtrot-Hotel 3-3-1. Requesting permission to enter US waters."

"Standby"

In Ottawa, the decision would be escalated to the Prime Minister. After a phone call to the highest levels of government by the command room, a radio message would be returned.

"Foxtrot-Foxtrot-Hotel 3-3-1, cleared to approach."

HMCS Vancouver would make best speed towards the lifeboat. As they approach pipes would fill the corridors of the ship

"Hands to recovery stations, hands to recovery stations"

HMCS Vancouver would become a flurry of activity as the medical and recovery teams gathered on the boat deck of the ship. A rescue diver would be prepared. Cutbacks meant the vessel still did not have a helicopter or RHIB to effect a rescue.

"MV Yokohama lifeboat, MV Yokohama lifeboat, this is Foxtrot-Foxtrot-Hotel 3-3-1. We have no small boats or helicopter, we will pull alongside you."

HMCS Vancouver would slowly pull it's side agaisnt the stricken lifeboat, a rope ladder would be dropped down to allow medics onboard. The ships medic and medical assistant would be the first on board. Going to the casualty the medic would perform a ABCDE assessment of the patient. He would notice the patient not breathing, [would rigor mortis be setting in?]. In broken English the doctor would ask the crew

"How long has he been like this?"

The crew that are able would be ordered up the rope ladder onboard HMCS Halifax where blankets, hot drinks and hot food would be provided to them inside the helicopter hanger.

John

---

A Emergency phone call would be relied to the American Department of State and Department of Defence to report the presence of a Canadian Navy warship in their waters. Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private

It was some time before the Coast Guard was able to pick up the transmissions from the Japanese fishermen. The end of Operation Neptune and the lack of equipment that had so far been dedicated to the Coast Guard and the Pacific Region in general meant that the Coast Guard was practically operating with a skeleton crew, so-to-speak, in Alaska and the Northern Pacific. Finally, the USCGC Santa Cruz was dispatched from its original course to rendezvous with the HMCS Vancouver and the Japanese crew. After a phone call was sent from the Canadians, they were granted permission after-the-fact to enter American territorial waters to assist in the rescue of the Japanese crew. The Santa Cruz would render all possible aid to recover the Japanese crew using equipment on board as well as the MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter. Waiting aboard were fresh clothes, a heated interior of the ship, warm food, coffee, and an officer who spoke some Japanese.

John

 

[John]

The Ship's Doctor would already be by the Bosun's body, which had been laid down and a had a sheet put over. "He's been dead for about twenty four hours now. At the moment I've only been able to guess as to what killed him. He hit his head onboard the ship and was out cold. Woke up a few hours later and was disorientated and vomiting. I sat him down and kept observations on him. His right pupil was blown - a few hours later, he went into a seizure and not long after that - he was dead."

Whilst the Doctor was giving his handover to the Canadian medics, the crew were beginning to ascend the ladder up onto the Canadian Frigate, many of them. When they got onboard, many of them, began to break down. The emotion shock and trauma just got the better of them. The Captain was the last to leave the boat, apart from the doctor, he had a piece of rope with him that he had tied to the Voyade Data Recorder. When he got onboard, he asked the canadians if they can help him haul it up. Nathan

 

[Nathan]

The deck crew would use one of the davit cranes to lift up the voyage data recorder. Lifting it onto the deck the recorder would then safely be stored within the helicopter hanger. Once again, the sailor's body would be lifted onto the deck. The ships chaplain would host a small service mulifaith service onboard the flight deck attended by the captain and the ship's crew before the body is placed in a refrigerated storage area for the journey home.

With all crew safely onboard, the ship would make best speed out of US waters back towards CFB Esquimalt. The ships medical team would go around each individual crew member taking their observations and medical problems that may be arising. Heating would be turned up within the hanger. As they depart, the Japanese lifeboat would be left for the Americans.

"Coastguard vessel, coastguard vessel, this is Canadian warship Foxtrot-Foxtrot-Hotel 3-3-1, we are departing your waters at best speed. Many thanks for your assistance, Vancouver out"

Nearby hospitals in CFB Esquimalt have been placed on major incident standby ready to receive the crew members.

The Minister of National Defence has made a phone call to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. John

 

[John]

The call would be forwarded to Shunji Yanai, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, since the Minister was busy in a phone call with the Swedish Ambassador. "Vice Minister Yanai speaking, how can I help?" Nathan

 

[Odinson]

The cutter Santa Cruz reported back to port that a Canadian vessel responded to a distress call in American waters. The matter was forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security and then the Department of State who would organize a way to thank the Canadians for the assistance. The Santa Cruz remained in the area to search for any possible missing crew or bodies which could be returned to the Japanese government.

 

[Nathan]

HMS Vancouver would pull into CFB Esquimalt after it's voyage North. On the jetty, 10 ambulances, 5 RCMP Cruisers and 2 engines from Victoria Fire Department are present to meet the offloading crew. Upon mooring, the gangway is docked and the Japanese crew offloaded. Those injured would be directed to the ambulances, and taken to the local hospital. Those uninjured would be loaded up onto a bus and taken to a hotel in the city centre. The body of the Japanese sailor would also be offloaded to the morgue.

---

"Good Evening Vice Minister Yanai, this is Minister of National Defence Baldwin speaking. I am calling you with news that a Japanese cargo ship sunk in Alaskan waters a few days ago. Unfortunately one of the crew has since died. The remainder of the crew were rescued by a Canadian warship, which entered Alaskan waters upon noticing their emergency calls were going unanswered. The captain has luckily retrieved the voyage recording box.

Are you able to organise their repatriation home, and to take the body of the crew member back to his family?" John