Tragic cases at sea and the death of ships

On March 21, 1991, from the side of our STR-8256 "Turmalin" which was using squid off the shelf of Argentina, a huge wave crumpled overboard the sailor. Emergency measures taken and further searches yielded nothing. And only, after forty days the ocean returned the body of a sailor.   
       I offer you my article in the blog "The southernmost and sorrowful point of swimming."
         
     "Summer 1991. We work on the shelf of Argentina. Chasing a squid.  The catches are not stable. The plan is not coming. The mood is under the plan. On my watch, I choose a trawl. And all of a sudden, the captain's call. "You raise the trawl and set the course for the port of Stanley. Let's go to the Falklands. Let's take some cargo for Sovrybflot. Don't wake me up yet. I hear you're speaking English in secret. So prepare your English," he said. I chose a trawl, lay down on the general course. The fog does not allow to relax, the sonar is still in the works. By the end of the watch slowly fall into the canyon. The depth is more than 800 meters and continues to increase rapidly.  And suddenly just as quickly begins to disappear the foggy canvas before his eyes.                We cross the border between clean sea air and this, saturated with water vapor, mash. Do you know what an indescribable pleasure this is? You begin to breathe not fog, but clean, fresh air and already see and your bow of the ship and some designated horizon line. It's not far from the bow of the ship. Maybe a little over a mile. But that's a good thing. In an unexpected situation, you have the ability to maneuver urgently to avoid colliding with the same wanderer of the seas and oceans as you.      Gradually, the horizon line goes forward and comes complete relaxation. For unnecessary turned off the sonar, and soon and locator.   
          The Falkland Islands consist of two large West Falkland and East Falkland and 700 small islands. This archipelago is located in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is 290 miles east of South America. The port of Stanley, where we follow, is located at coordinates of 51 degrees 42 minutes S, 57 degrees 51 minutes W. If we get there without adventure, it will be the southernmost area where Fate has brought me. The Falkland Islands were called the British, and the Spaniards call them Malvinas.       Controversy, who first discovered the islands, has been going on since the 16th century. There were also the French with the Portuguese, The Argentines with the Spaniards, the English with the Chileans. The islands received their English name after a visit to them in 1690 by the English captain John Strong. Could these islands then have a Russian name? No. It was not the fate for the Russian people to have such honors at that time. We haven't had a fleet to make such discoveries. It wasn't until 130 years later that we were able to reach those areas and do some research.

   Below, let me cite some excerpts from Faddej Faddeevich Bellingshausen's book "Double Investigations in the South Arctic Ocean and Swimming Around the World in 1819, 20, and 21 years, performed on the sloops "East" and "Peaceful" under the command of Captain Bellingshausen, commander of the sloop “East”. Lieutenant Lazarev was the captain "Peaceful" sloop." Faddej Faddeevich in the sixth chapter of "The Discovery of "Peter 1" Island and the Shores of "Alexander 1" writes: "I called this island the highest name of the culprit of the existence of the Russian Empire's navy - the island of "Petra 1". That's when Russia had a fleet, and the military including, then began and long-distance voyages of Russian sailors.      
In the seventh chapter "Swimming to Russia" we find: "July 24. At 6 a.m. on July 24 they reached Kronstadt, saluted the fortresses, and anchored at the very spot from which they set off. Our absence lasted 751 days..." July 24, 1821 - the date of the return of the expedition. A few earlier the expedition was not so far from the Falkland Islands. And it was February 03, 1821. In the same sixth chapter, we read: "February 3...At noon we were at a latitude of 51 degrees 23 minutes South, longitude 40 degrees 53 minutes 10 seconds West.
    The wind changed and blew away from the north completely nasty to us; we lay down to the west. From four o'clock in the afternoon, there was a thick, wet fog, and lasted until the very night."

I write these lines after more than 21 years from that our voyage in the summer of 1991. At that time there was still a fishing fleet in northwest Russia. But soon he was gone. And when any of the Russians will visit those areas now, I cannot say. Unless, if you buy a cruise ticket on our still-living research vessels, which, to somehow survive and hold out, sometimes engage in such activities in those areas. 

        But then, in the summer of 1991, when we had already significantly retired from the coast of South America, I was lucky enough to still meet travelers in this seemingly deserted area. The weather was fresh. To blow SSW is five to six points. It's dawn. My watch was coming to an end, and I was slowly filling out a ship's magazine. Suddenly the steering man informs me of some yacht on the left on the course. I drop the records and start looking at the yacht in binoculars. Yes, indeed, we are quickly getting closer to some cruising yacht. Its length is 15-20 meters. Carries a small storm staxel and grott. The crests of the waves only occasionally fly on the deck of the yacht. It is like on wings rushing on small waves of the ocean and passes a mile from us on the left side.
So I wanted to talk to these unknown strangers. And by this time I was not afraid that I would be invited somewhere in the port to talk for these negotiations. Just took and got in touch on Channel 16. And he was very surprised when he almost immediately heard the answer of the yacht's radio station. To my question, "Is there a problem?", I received the answer: "Don't worry, wish you a safe voyage, captain." What can be even more pleasant to hear in this vast ocean from a complete stranger you do not know. He asks you not to worry about him. He's fine. And he wants you to swim safely. He doesn't even ask who you are. Perhaps the state flag defined us. But that's what all the true sailors of the world do. And that's fine. We met and parted as old acquaintances, sure that in the vast waters there is always someone who is ready to help you.
          And the area is really interesting. The Falklands lie on the border of two zones, temperate and subarctic marine climates. The climate of the region is influenced by the cold part of the South Atlantic with its Patagonian current and the Antarctic Peninsula, which is not so far from the islands. We must not forget that the islands lie in the other hemisphere. So their winter is not ferocious and the summer is not quite cold. Strong winds are very frequent in winter. Internet for the port of Stanley gives a record high temperature of January -  +24 gr. C, July - +10 gr. C, and the record low temperature of January - - 1 gr. C,   June - - 11 gr. C. In such conditions, the sheep feel great. There are more than half a million of them on the islands. And high-quality wool, going for export, is valued in the market. Tourism and fishing are also developed. Fishing licenses are issued on the islands.                The islands are not particularly high. Existing mountains are no more than 705 meters high. The Falklands are home to large bird populations. Under the 1995 agreement between Argentina and England, the two countries began to explore offshore oil. In February 2010, the results of the first drilling disappointed Desire Petroleum, but work continues. Negotiations between Argentine and British foreign missions have been going on for a long time. They took place in 1960 but did not give any result.          And on April 2, 1982, Argentina invaded the islands. The UN Security Council called on Argentina to withdraw its troops and sit down at the negotiating table. Argentina has not complied with the recommendations of the Security Council. After short but brutal battles, the British liberated the islands. The Argentines surrendered on June 14, 1982. The war, according to the Falkland Islands, killed 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors and pilots, and only 3 civilians. After the war, England finally secured its rights to the islands. She had to destroy a large number of minefields around ports and coastal fortifications. But the dispute between Argentina and England continues today. In the first half of 2013, the Falkland Islands Government stated that a referendum on the political status of the islands would take place.
                Five years after Argentina's surrender, The King Edward 7 Memorial Hospital (KEMH) opened in the Falklands in 1987.
        In the dead of night, we came to the port of Stanley. As it should be, pre-given appropriate information. The site of the alleged anchorage was clarified at Port Control on Channel 16. Asked in the morning to inform our agent firm "Sulivan Shipping Services LTD" and Mr. A.W. Davies of our arrival. They gave the anchor near the entrance gate of the port and calmed down until the morning. And immediately I had to tell the truth to the team about the purpose of our ward, which was known besides the captain, I, and the wireless operator. We had to take from the morgue King Edward 7 Memorial Hospital the body of our sailor with the “Turmalin” STR.              Rosemary Mc Ilroy being Her Majesty's Deputy Coroner for the Colony of the Falkland Islands writes in one of the documents: "... who was lost overboard from the "Turmalin" on the 21st March 1991 at 46 deg. 42 miles S and 60 deg. 36 miles W." Investigator Rosemary Mc Ilroy confirms that the sailor disappeared (missing) from the ship "Turmalin" on March 21, 1991. She also confirmed to us that the body was found on 30 April 1991 by Spanish fishermen in their trawl. The Spanish trawler "Amable Marquez Alvalez" gave the trawl at the point of the Sh = 46 g. 31.3 S , D =60 g. 34.2 W. Ocean forty days in its cold saltwater mocked the body of our sailor. And if it weren't for the accident (the unthinkable probability), this visit to the Falklands might not have happened. And we would never know where his body is resting. And can the ocean bed be called a dead place?    That is why we are grateful to the Spanish sailors, who, having shown skill and great maritime practice, managed to return the body of our sailor. The work was probably done by Interpol officers, the investigative department of the memorial hospital in the Falklands. The materials collected in a short period of time allowed to restore facts and events. But now relatives and friends have a grave in the cemetery, where they bring and put flowers in mournful silence. Thank you, fierce ocean, for bringing back the sailor. You did it on the fortieth day he died. What did you want to tell us? We haven't worked in those neighborhoods in a while. We no longer dominate the seas and oceans. And I don't think we'll get back to those neighborhoods. A lot has changed in our lives since then. We lost the fleet and the people who worked on the ships. You can be calm, the ocean. We're not touching your supplies anymore. They're being taken away by others. All we have to do is regret what happened.  That's the night we look forward to the dawn. In the morning, we learn from Mr. Davis, our agent, that the sailor's body "is not in a coffin at present, but stored only in a "body bag." I mean, it's still in the bag, not the coffin. Immediate persistent negotiations begin. We are send a radio in Sovrybflot. Sovrybflot immediately send a radio at the agency. As a last resort, we must listen to both. We can and tolerate reading Russian telegrams from Sovrybflot. But the negotiations with a knowledgeable English Bulgarian, bring me to anger. He's hard to understand, but he says the bag is safe and strong, and everything will be OK. We demand not a bag, but a coffin made of light alloy, which can be easily and quickly made airtight. The agent reminds me that it's Sunday.  The shipyard and the onshore repair shop do not work. And in general it will be expensive. We immediately enlist the support of Sovrybflot. He telegram guarantees payment for all works. Appropriate telegram from Sovrybflot fly in agent. Only after this radiogram, Mr. Davis replaces the anger at the mercy, and the negotiations are proceeding in a normal way. Soon he calms us down, telling us that in three hours it'll be OK. Just asks if we could come to identify the body. The captain refuses to identify him because none of us knew this sailor. And what can remain of the body, which forty days is unknown where and how was in the ocean. In what shoals of fish, squid, sharks it visited. It was tormented for at least two hours in the trawl of the Spaniards along with the squid. So, at least, we assumed. After receiving our refusal, Mr. Davis leaves us alone for a while and does his job. We're waiting. Gradually, the cloudy day over the Falklands turns into twilight. Finally we see a speedboat coming from the port bay towards us. Getting ready to receive the boat. On board arrive representatives of the port authorities, the commissioner of the investigation department of the memorial hospital, the manager of the agent firm Mr. Devis. Immediately begins the overload of the coffin with the body.Everything is done beautifully and reliably. The coffin is placed in the neck of the bow hold, where we have sufficient sub-zero temperature for its safety.
         In the captain's cabin we are handed all sorts of accompanying documents for the body of our sailor. There are sympathetic speeches. We, in turn, thank the port authorities, the staff of the memorial hospital and personally Mr. Davis for the services and assistance in the repatriation of the body of our sailor. Mr. Davis turned out to be a Bulgarian who works for the Falklands under contract.    
       Everything happens quickly without any delays. In forty minutes the boat departs from the side. We are preparing the main engine for launch, requesting "goodness" to exit from the external raid of the port of Stanley. We leave the place of the last mournful shelter of the body of our sailor. We don't know how many days it was in the morgue of the memorial hospital. But we know that the port of Stanley (Falkland Islands) has become for us the southernmost and most mournful point of navigation. We'll never go back there again.

P.S.
 After the publication of these records on the Internet, I suddenly found in my papers a curious document in English. This is the ship role of the STR-8256 Turmalin. I worked on this vessel off the coast of Norway almost two years after that tragic accident. "Crew list of the vessel "Turmalin" for the Maritime Declaration of Health." It was written by me on May 27, 1993, as an annex to the crew's health declaration. STR-8256 "Turmalin" that day went to the port of Batsfjord (Norway) to unload shrimp.  And in this ship's role, to my surprise, at number 21  I suddenly found the surname of a sailor, very similar to the surname of the sailor who fell overboard our STR-8256 "Turmalin" on March 21, 1991. On July 15, 1991, we took his body aboard the SRTM-8156 "Isotop9" for repatriation to his homeland.
The sailor's name was the same. And the surname differed only by the first vowel letter. The age was different. The one who worked with me in the northern latitudes and handed over shrimp to a Norwegian port was almost 6 years older than the one who tragically died on board our ship on 21 March 1991. As they say, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.   
     The whole flight worked with him, and to ask about this little thing did not even occur to me. I guess that's what I had to do. There's nothing to hurt the wounds. But now for some reason it caught my eye. I know that Russia is great. The same names, names and even off-ages can be found a lot. If you look well, then, perhaps, you can find similar birthdays. But there's some mystery here.    The fierce ocean took the young sailor. Maybe at that moment he was careless, careless, slow and could not resist the onslaught of the elements. He was just really tired of the hard work that day. After all, he had to walk a few meters before the shelter. It didn't work out....
    Two years later, a new sailor was sent to the same vessel, with almost the same surname and the same name, but a little older and perhaps more experienced. The replacement came and continued the struggle for the plan, obligations, salary to the detriment of the health, cultural and spiritual development of fishermen. And how many of these voyage each had, sometimes not to count."