A Passenger Ferry With 48 Onboard Sank in the Sea, Maldives

A passenger ferry with 48 onboard sank in the seas of the Maldives when it hit several high waves during rough weather. The entire incident was captured by a passenger onboard, where we can see the situation. All 48 onboard were eventually rescued within a couple of hours.

Real story from an actual passenger of this ferry.

I WAS ON THAT BOAT: HERE IS THE STORY

One of the main means of transportation in the Maldives is the speedboat. These are used to attract tourists from the capital, Malé, where the airport is located, to the respective islands. The same applies to the return transport. The transfer happened from the island of Dhigurah and took place at 07:00 local time.

The destination was the capital, Malé. The distance from Dhigurah to Male is about 100 km with a travel time of about 2 hours. The speedboat left as planned around 7:00. There were 45 tourists and 3 crew members on board. From the beginning we had strong waves. After about 30 minutes and several hard landings on the water, water penetrated for the first time approx. up to ankle height in the boat.

Many passengers panicked and asked to stop or to turn around. Since the crew did not speak English, there was no reaction. The captain continued the journey. The water could run out of the back exit of the boat. The situation deteriorated more and more. The boat was hit several times by large waves; in the meantime, more and more water poured into the boat. The crew tried unsuccessfully to establish telephone contact with potential rescuers. Passengers also tried to contact the respective hotels.

At this point, the crew members put on life jackets. The life jackets were all bundled and tied to a pole in the upper area, so that it was difficult for the passengers to distribute them to the passengers (the crew didn't do anything). A lot of life jackets had apparently not been serviced and did not work. The panic on board was getting bigger and bigger, as there were also children on board and many people couldn't swim.

The boat began to tilt to the right; the water that had entered went up to the calves in the meantime. We tried to go to the left side of the boat with some passengers to create a balance. This was completely unsuccessful. There was so much water in the boat that I shouted to my girlfriend that we had to get out of the boat because it was going to sink shortly.

All passengers got ready to jump off the ship. Since both my life jacket and my girlfriend's did not work, I had taken a buoy attached to the boat, and we jumped into the sea. All passengers were able to leave the boat unharmed. After about 5 minutes, the boat has completely sunk. We spent about 1 hour in the sea before help came. The rescue process took another 1 1/2 hours. The nearest island was 25km away.

All luggage sank with the boat. The police and lifeboats brought us back to the island of Dhigurah.

Advice from an experienced marine.

I was Royal Navy and if you ever find yourself in a group in the water like that with life jackets, bunch up and keep hold of each other like a raft of people. Don't turn people away as your jacket can very likely keep 2 or 3 people's heads above water.

You are easier to locate as a large object and stops people getting lost and also sharks will have a pop at loners first.

If anyone is cold, get them in the middle to share body heat and rotate who is in the middle to try and keep everyone alive until rescue.

If there is a life raft or boat, never tuen anyone away. let them hold onto the side if there is no room. Anyone injured get them in it and you get out to make room.

Also if you can, while in the water, lay back and keep your legs raised as being in the water for prolonged periods with your legs below you will apply hydrostatic pressue and when you are lifted from the water you can have a heart attack due to the sudden drop in blood pressure.

If there are sharks, try not to splash about. Not sure booping them on the nose will work but worth a shot haha (Go for the eyes and gills)

Also... a lot of things happen at sea which we don't understand. As my oppo here penned in 'Over the Horizon: A Sailor's Voyage Into The Unknown', wow!