Results 1 to 1 of 1

Article: Radio Officer - Baron Maclay

  1. Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Andover MA
    Posts
    2
    Thanks (Given)
    0
    Thanks (Received)
    6
    Likes (Given)
    0
    Likes (Received)
    8

    Radio Officer - Baron Maclay

    0 Comments by Peter Cassidy Published on 19th November 2018 11:13 PM
    This most memorable trip as a Radio Officer because there was a rescue involved.

    I joined the MV Baron Maclay in London, we started our voyage from Amsterdam and headed across the Atlantic to the Panama Canal.

    We arrived at Panama city and registered the ship for it’s passage through the canal.

    While we travelled through the locks, all we saw was wilderness on each side. It was amazing!

    The ship went through three sets of locks, each time the water levels adjusted while the ship was in the lock to a lower level, that’s how ships adjust from the level of the Atlantic to the level of the Pacific.

    We then headed out on the Pacific towards Japan.

    Air/Sea Rescue in Pacific Ocean off Midway Island.

    About two of weeks into the trip I picked up a distress signal (SOS) of Hawaii, it was from a Japanese Fishing Boat that has an engine on fire.

    There was a US Coast Guard Plane over the burning ship relaying voice messages to the Hawaiian Coast Station, we could not talk to the aircraft so the Coast Station translated the voice message into Morse Code
    and send me a Morse Code message which I relayed to our Captain and officers.

    We kept exchanging messages as we proceeded to the distressed ship.

    It would take 12 hours to get to the boat and from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. we travelled rough waters to get to the boat.

    We started the rescue with the American Aircraft support who dropped flares.

    I transmitted Morse Code to Honolulu and was translate responses back to the aircraft and vice versa as needed.

    I did this all night long. At 12:30 a.m. 26 people were on board our ship but 2 were still missing.

    During the rescue two Paramedics jumped out of the plane and swam for 15 minutes to get medical supplies to the burning ship.

    The plane had to leave to refuel and returned at 4:00 a.m. but there was no sign of life in the search for the two missing crew members.

    By 5:30 a.m. we heard cries from the ship and by 7:00 a.m. the missing crew members were on the ship and we were setting course for the US Cutter to drop off the Paramedics.
    By sunset of the same day, the boat had sunk.

    The Japanese crew lost everything, I lived with a Japanese Radio Officer for 11 days until we were able to reach a port and we had a language barrier but we still managed to share our food and clothes for the
    duration of the trip.

    The last two days in port, when we finally arrived, there were helicopters and planes trying to cover the story of the rescue.

    After the rescue we headed west toward Japan, a few days later we crossed the International Date Line, another special time for me, this event went without any induction ceremony like when I crossed the Equator.
    Last edited by Brian Probetts (Site Admin); 20th November 2018 at 01:48 PM.

  2. Total Comments 0

    Comments

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •