Hanjin Karachi | Sinking Ship

Hanjin Karachi settles by stern. U.S, Navy plane overhead.

From Singapore the Rover headed north and then northeast past “Dangerous Ground” west of the Spratley Islands/Palawan Philippines. The Rover was bound for Okinawa and was destined to pass north of Luzon – the northernmost of the large Philippine Islands. On the warm clear morning of November 22, 1991 the Rover received a distress call from a mid-size bulk carrier with the name Hanjin Karachi. The Karachi reported a valve failure in the engine room and was taking on water north of Luzon – the 22 man crew was preparing to abandon ship. Hanjin is a very large Korean Shipping Company. Rover immediately responded and altered course toward their position. The US Navy had also responded to the distress call and had sent a plane. Circling slowly over the sinking vessel allowed responding ships to move directly to her. The Navy was also directing the rescue. Because the Rover was fully loaded and had the least freeboard (distance from waterline to main deck) it would be easiest/safest to get the Karachi crew aboard the Rover. The Rover positioned itself upwind of the Karachi and awaited that vessel’s lifeboat. Slowly the lifeboat made it way to the lee of Rover and one at a time the crew of the sinking vessel climbed the 18 feet up a rope (Pilot) ladder to the deck. As we helped the crew aboard something was clearly wrong – the lifeboat was only half full. Of the 22 man crew only eleven were aboard the lifeboat. The rest were still aboard the sinking ship. I assumed the Korean ship’s crew would make the return to their vessel and pick up the remainder. I realized with chagrin I was mistaken as the last person in the lifeboat climbed up the ladder: a crew willing to abandon its own. No one on the Rover spoke Korean and no one that came aboard was speaking English. As Chief Officer I was running things on deck and Jimmy – the Captain – was responsible for maneuvering the ship. The Chief Engineer was also on the bridge. As we tried to find someone from the Karachi to tell us what was going on the US Navy aircraft chimed in wanting to depart the area and wanted to know if we had everyone aboard. As the Korean crew made their way to the Rover’s house with no one willing to go back and get their fellow crew members, I asked the Rover’s bosun if he wanted to go for a ride. As we made our way down to the lifeboat we were joined by a single Korean who, as it turned out, knew how to run the lifeboat’s engine. As we started to pull away from the Rover the lifeboat’s rudder disintegrated leaving me with a handle only. All lifeboats are equipped with oars and sweep oars. Sweep oars are simply slightly larger bladed oars and are used for exactly this type of emergency – a lost rudder. With the rudder gone we rigged the sweep oar and off we went to the Hanjin Karachi to gather the rest of the crew. As we came closer we could see that the remaining eleven crew members, having been abandoned, had rigged a life raft alongside. As yet no one had left the comparative safety of the sinking ship to board the life raft. As we came alongside the Hanjin Karachi, the bosun called to me with a twinkle in his eye and asked for permission to go aboard and “see what I can find.” I didn’t think that was a good idea and said so. As we tied off to the Karachi and the remaining crew members climbed down the pilot ladder into the boat I noticed that Rover had changed position and was now downwind of the sinking ship about half mile directly across from us. Alarm bells started going off in my head.

Downwind from Hanjin Karachi. Note the life raft and lifeboat. Note the relatively calm water between vessels.

Eleven of twenty-two. Note suitcase being hauled up next to pilot latter.

The Rover was making its way to Okinawa from the Middle East with a full load of fuels for the US Navy base there. North of the Philippine island of Luzon we had received a distress call from a bulk carrier (Hanjin Karachi) rapidly taking on water. With our low freeboard (distance between main deck and the waterline) Rover was designated rescue vessel. When only half the Korean crew took the only usable lifeboat and headed to the Rover and rescue, someone had to go get the rest of the crew from the sinking vessel. With the Rover’s bosun, an engineer from the Korean vessel to run the lifeboat engine and myself we proceeded to the stricken bulk carrier in the unseaworthy lifeboat. Tying up to the Hanjin Karachi the Korean crew proceeded to climb down the pilot ladder to the lifeboat and ‘safety.’ At this point I noticed the Rover had taken up a position ½ mile downwind from the sinking ship. I was alarmed. Pilot ladders are made for one person at a time so the transfer of the crew was going slowly. Transfer was also slowed by the large number of suitcases we were asked to carry. By the time the last crewman was onboard the lifeboat, the Karachi and the Rover had drifted much closer together with the lifeboat between the two ships. As the tanker and the bulk carrier grew closer the water between the two ships became compressed sending the lifeboat shooting far above the deck of the Karachi and then falling far below. Those of us in the lifeboat were in danger of being crushed between the two ships. I called Captain Jimmy on the walkie-talkie and strongly suggested he remove the Rover from the present equation. He responded that he was trying. By this time there was 40 or 50 feet separating the two ships with a lifeboat full of people between them. Using hand signals I tried to get the Koreans to go back up the ladder to safety, but something was lost in translation. After what seemed a very long period of unsuccessful exhortation I determined to show them what I meant. All this time the lifeboat is rising and falling on swells growing larger and larger the closer the two ships get. Moving from stern to bow of the lifeboat was difficult. I could easily talk to the crew on the deck of the Rover by this time: all were yelling to get off the boat and onto the ship. I could also hear the Rover engines straining as the ship tried to back away. As the lifeboat rose once more I grabbed the ropes of the pilot ladder holding on tight. The lifeboat immediately fell away 25 feet as I climbed to the Karachi main deck. By this time the Karachi’s stern had settled so much that only 10 feet separated the water’s edge from main deck. I was afraid the lifeboat would be crushed or thrown onto the deck of the Korean ship. Standing on the main deck of the Karachi urging the remaining persons on the lifeboat to do what I had just done, I was relatively safe. The Koreans and my bosun on the lifeboat were not. Glancing forward I saw the Rover’s bow was within 5 feet of the Karachi, however, the angle between the two ships was now increasing. The propeller had finally grabbed hold and was pulling the Rover around. The vast majority of propellers are what is called right handed; the propeller rotates in a clockwise direction (if you are behind the ship) and want to move the stern to the right as the propeller turns. As the ship starts to move forward (make way) the rudder has more water running past it and becomes more effective. When the engine is reversed the opposite happens; the stern immediately wants to move left and the rudder is ineffective until the ship is making way. With engines at maximum backing the stern was literally walking to the left opening the gap between the two hulls. As the stern swung left the bow swung right with collision avoided only when the Rover gained sternway (moving backwards). As the Rover backed away the seas became calmer and I was able to re-board the lifeboat. We brought the lifeboat back to the Rover and unloaded the Korean crew, their luggage and finally the bosun and myself. The lifeboat was holed and sank. Hanjin Karachi sank within the hour. I was ready for a vacation.