You South Africa – 22 August 2019

With incredible skill,
Nikolaidis somehow
managed to weave the

boat through the moun-
tainous waves without it
capsizing. After four tort

ous hours they could see
shapeofabulkcargofr
clearlyinthedistance.Asthelifeboatap-
proached, Debra could faintly make out

thenameGreatNancythroughthespray.
Nikolaidisstoppedthelifeboatonthe
port side of the ship. But as Chinese crew
ondeckthrewdownropesamassive

wave smashed the boat against the hull
of the ship, pushing the tiny craft to-
wards the slowly spinning propellers.

Passengers screamed and fell over
eachothertryingtogetawayfromthe
turningblades.Somehowthesecondof-
ficer managed to haul back on the line,

draggingthelifeboatawayfromdanger.
Finally, after what seemed an intermi-
nabletime,thelifeboatwassecure.The
crew of the Great Nancy lowered a large

bucket on a rope, gesturing the children
shouldgetinsothattheycouldbepulled
up onto the ship.

Michael, Gail’s eldest son, volunteered
to o first. He climbed into the bucket
and was uickly hauled to safety. When
the bucket returned, Raymond said to

Debra: “Mom, I’m out of here. I’m going.”

Debra couldn’t watch.

he closed her eyes, open-

ng them again only once

nother woman called

t: “He’s safe!”

ery lift had to be impec-

imed.Thebucketcould

ly as the lifeboat crested

awave.Haditbeenliftedwhileitwasina

trough,boththechildandbucketcould

easily have been crushed between the life-

boatandshipastheboatsurgedtothe

topofthenextwave.TheChinesecrew

managedtheoperationtoperfection.

Debra’s daughter, Megan, was the last

kidoffandafterthatattentionturnedto

the adults.

Gailwasfirstintotheharnessthatthey

lowered. From the deck they tried to in-

dicate that she should lie back and walk

upthesideoftheshipinatypeofreverse

abseil manoeuvre. However unable to

master the technique, she crashed into

thesideoftheshipseveraltimesasthey

heaved, crushing her hand and breaking

threefingers.Finally,shewasonboard,

weeping uncontrollably, and reunited

with her children.

Onebyonetheadultswerehauledup.

WhentheturncameforTsaikas,the

ship’s casino dealer, his size and weight,

proved too much and halfway up, the

rope parted and he plunged back into

went in search of her children.

AfterfivehoursadriftatseaTsaikas

waspickedupbyoneoftherescueheli-

copters.

T

WO other lifeboats reached

theGreatNancylater.Aseach

arrived, Debra stood on deck,

anxiously scanning the occu-

pants in the hope of finding

her husband.

The first lifeboat was filled mostly with

male Oceanos crew, many of whom were

officers. They were also heaved aboard

byharness.Oneofthemjuststoodon

deckcryinglikeababyanditwasupto

Debra to comfort him. The irony wasn’t

lost on her.

Likemanyoftheotherpeopleinher

lifeboat she was amazed that the crew

hadbeenwillingtoabandonthesinking

ship, leaving passengers behind without

a second thought. As the women heaped

abuseonthemen,somehadthegraceto

hang their heads in shame.

When another lifeboat finally pulled

up Debra was overjoyed to be reunited

with René.

After receiving clearance to leave the

area, the Great Nancy resumed her voy-

agetowardsDurban.TheLeRichefam-

ilydisembarkedandweretakentoalocal

hoteltogetsomerestbeforeflyingback

to Port Elizabeth.

Before heading to the airport Debra

packed up her family and belongings,

such as they were. Her only keepsakes

from her trip on the Oceanos were the

keytohercabinandthewhistleshe’dre-

movedfromherlifejacket.S

COWARDLY CAPTAIN

A total of 571 passengers sailed from East

London. Of these, 221 were airlifted by heli-

copter, the rest evacuated by lifeboat. There

were no deaths. The Oceanos sank within 17

hours of water first entering the ship.

Back in Greece the crew faced an official

inquiry but the formal report has never been

made public. A Wikipedia entr for the

Oceanos records that the ca

and some of his officers wer

convicted of negligence for

fleeing the ship without

helping passengers. It emerged that

Captain Avranas (BELOW) had tried to

board a lifeboat carrying his wife and

daughter but was stopped by one of the

passengers. But when the first helicopters

arrived, he jumped the queue.

After the fiasco he’s understood to have

been laced in command of a small

t later all was apparently

en and he was allowed

aptain another big cruise

er.

THIS IS AN EDITED EXTRACT FROM

AGAINST ALL ODDS, THE EPIC STORY

OF THE OCEANOS RESCUE BY ANDREW PIKE,

JONATHAN BALL PUBLISHERS, R257

(RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE).

you.co.za 22 AUGUST 2019 | (^83)