Alpinia - listed to port and still on fire. credit photo to NST
0230H on July 26th would go down as the darkest day in the Malaysian shipping industries....and also for my corporation....
most of us...knew those who perished in the incident....directly or indirectly....whether fellow shipmates in previous shipboard contracts or fellow friends since training days...we knew at least one of them if not all of them...
and furthermore...we knew those who survive either....
the corporation is not really that big...we knew who is who in which ship across the fleet...and most of us had mingle together as shipmates if not many times then it would be at least once in the career....
knowing that we had lost those who we knew...is unbearable....
my mate knew the pumpman and the greaser....whom he sailed before onboard A class tanker similar to Alpinia...knew them very well that he even thought about how would arwah only child would fared with her mother knowing that his father had passed on....while the greaser....whom were dreaming of becoming engineer for near coastal ship were also very close to my mate...
and then there is me....who knew the young OS way back when he first come to work on a ship....
then there are others whom i might not knew but knew all those who perished really well..the deck rating..the cadet..the able seaman...whom maybe they had sailed together maybe again and again....and not to forget..family members...who grieved their losses the most...
the fact that they had passed on cant be denied....god loves them more than us...
and my writings here are not to speculate the incident...since a lot of rumors and incorrect reporting by our local media had spread across the nation....
till the time of this writings...my corporation are still investigating the cause of the fire and explosion....and they said themselves that...they don`t mind loosing the ship....since ship can be build and can be bought...but loosing their own sea staff is really hard and even you had billions of dollar of revenue....you cant bring the dead to life.....
and here the reality sets in....
seafaring is the most regulated industry...and also the most dangerous...but all the danger is mitigated by safety culture and awareness instilled among professional mariners...but then again...incidents and accidents..sometimes lead to fatalities did occurs now and then....
and not many of us..outside the industry knew this....most of them thought...sailing is easy...goyang kaki saja punya kerja.....but truth is it is not....
pressure from the corporation...charterer,flag and port states are also high...to ensure ship safety are always maintained on a high standard...
but whatever man did..god wills are never within the control of man....manusia merancang namun tuhan menentukan segalanya...no matter how high you standard of safety is....but then...it doesnt mean we leave it to god...for man`s fate will not be changed unless he who change it himself...
and thus...the passing of our fellow shipmates will never be in vain...and will be remembered....
Al Fatihah and condolences to those who had passed on...and keep on sailing to those who survived
-god speed..fairwinds and following seas-
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