Sailor falls from ship in New Zealand

[Briannagodess]

A 52 year old unnamed crewman of a container ship fell off a harbour in Canterbury, New Zealand. The container ship is called Madinah which apparently has also been involved in another accident a day earlier. The search has been suspended for the meantime due to the looming bad weather. The family of the lost seaman has already been informed about the incident.

[Billy]

I don't want to be seen as a pessimist but it is too unrealistic to hope he is still alive. This shows how unpredictable life is. We don't known when will our lives will be taken away from us. This is a huge tragedy to his family and it seemed like his family is very dependent of him so I hope his family will get some sort of a financial air so they will be able to recover from his lost. No financial help would be able to compensate for the lost of his life though.

[bala]

I don't want to be seen as a pessimist but it is too unrealistic to hope he is still alive. This shows how unpredictable life is. We don't known when will our lives will be taken away from us. This is a huge tragedy to his family and it seemed like his family is very dependent of him so I hope his family will get some sort of a financial air so they will be able to recover from his lost. No financial help would be able to compensate for the lost of his life though.

It is quite natural to assume that he is dead because of the time as well as the bad weather.Its been like 18 days and we can only hope the family is compensated well.
I am not able to even think that his body can be found.Life though is unpredictable.RIP Sailor if you are dead,else if you are still alive,may you be found.

Are there any islands i nthe vicinity ??

[dillinger10]

It is quite natural to assume that he is dead because of the time as well as the bad weather.Its been like 18 days and we can only hope the family is compensated well.
I am not able to even think that his body can be found.Life though is unpredictable.RIP Sailor if you are dead,else if you are still alive,may you be found.

Are there any islands i nthe vicinity ??

18 days is quite some time to be missing without contact at sea. I am reminded and given (some) hope of the story we discussed on the forum earlier this year regarding Louis Jordan who went missing for 66 days at sea before being rescued alive. Hopefully this has a similar outcome. Although, unfortunately, the circumstances appear to be different in that Jordan still had access to his sailboat whereas this sailor fell directly overboard.

[Briannagodess]

I don't want to be seen as a pessimist but it is too unrealistic to hope he is still alive. This shows how unpredictable life is. We don't known when will our lives will be taken away from us. This is a huge tragedy to his family and it seemed like his family is very dependent of him so I hope his family will get some sort of a financial air so they will be able to recover from his lost. No financial help would be able to compensate for the lost of his life though.

Yes, I do hope that he is still alive though even if we know the chances are very slim. This is the risk many sailors take in order to provide for their family. Their lives are in danger due to many factors like accidents like this, pirates and bad weather conditions. It is really one of those jobs that you pay well but endanger your life. I do hope his family will be able to survive without him.

[Briannagodess]

It is quite natural to assume that he is dead because of the time as well as the bad weather.Its been like 18 days and we can only hope the family is compensated well.
I am not able to even think that his body can be found.Life though is unpredictable.RIP Sailor if you are dead,else if you are still alive,may you be found.

Are there any islands i nthe vicinity ??

I tried searching for other articles regarding this but sadly I cannot find any. It might be a great glitter of hope if there are any nearby islands as you have asked. It is not that impossible for him to survive if he was washed away to a nearby island. Though, he has no equipment to have maybe made his survival easier if ever.

[Briannagodess]

18 days is quite some time to be missing without contact at sea. I am reminded and given (some) hope of the story we discussed on the forum earlier this year regarding Louis Jordan who went missing for 66 days at sea before being rescued alive. Hopefully this has a similar outcome. Although, unfortunately, the circumstances appear to be different in that Jordan still had access to his sailboat whereas this sailor fell directly overboard.

Wow that is quite an amazing and inspiring story of survival. It really goes to show that a set of strong survival skills can help any person that is stuck in an isolated island. He managed to live for 66 days alone and ate fish then drank rain water. I hope this seaman that is lost will also be able to survive like him!

[bala]

I tried searching for other articles regarding this but sadly I cannot find any. It might be a great glitter of hope if there are any nearby islands as you have asked. It is not that impossible for him to survive if he was washed away to a nearby island. Though, he has no equipment to have maybe made his survival easier if ever.

None i guess,even by giving it a thought,i can see that harbors normally don't have islands in the vicinity owing to security reasons and what amuses me is that harbors are normally shallow,so how could he have drowned..?

[gracer]

This story reminds me of an old neighbor's husband who was also a seafarer who suffered the same fate. He was never found so his family has lost hope and accepted the thought that he's already dead. It's really natural to assume that someone who fell off a ship directly into the ocean without any form of protection would not survive. 18 days is indeed a long time for the sailor to still be alive considering the condition of how he fell. It would be really hard for the family but I also hope they get the necessary compensation they deserve. It's such a sad fate for someone who had to bear being away from his family only to die away from them. May he rest in peace if he is indeed dead already.

[Briannagodess]

None i guess,even by giving it a thought,i can see that harbors normally don't have islands in the vicinity owing to security reasons and what amuses me is that harbors are normally shallow,so how could he have drowned..?

I am guessing he hit a rock or the ship which left him unconscious. I kind of doubt that he does not know how to swim as I know many seafarers are trained to swim before going into their job. Having a concussion then being knocked out is the only way I can think of that made him unable to swim.

[Briannagodess]

This story reminds me of an old neighbor's husband who was also a seafarer who suffered the same fate. He was never found so his family has lost hope and accepted the thought that he's already dead. It's really natural to assume that someone who fell off a ship directly into the ocean without any form of protection would not survive. 18 days is indeed a long time for the sailor to still be alive considering the condition of how he fell. It would be really hard for the family but I also hope they get the necessary compensation they deserve. It's such a sad fate for someone who had to bear being away from his family only to die away from them. May he rest in peace if he is indeed dead already.

I pity these seafarers as their lives are in danger at sea. They not only are exposed to accidents, pirates and bad weather conditions can also take away their lives. It is such a shame that most of our citizens have to go abroad just to earn decent money. I know the feeling of having a loved one away just to provide for our family as my husband worked abroad too. Good thing he is back now. I hope this seafarer is still alive but if he is not, I hope his family can recover. And of course may he rest in peace.

[bala]

I am guessing he hit a rock or the ship which left him unconscious. I kind of doubt that he does not know how to swim as I know many seafarers are trained to swim before going into their job. Having a concussion then being knocked out is the only way I can think of that made him unable to swim.

This is more like a mystery.
I engrossed myself in a discussion as what sherlock does :P :P
I even resorted to permutations/combinations and my 12th std maths.
I found there can be only be 5 possibilities
1.He sunk to the bottom
2.Will be washed ashore after body completely decays/decomposed.
3.Swims across to a nearby island
4.Pirates Kidnapping him/he went along willingly to reveal harbor secrets or whatever,though this sounds unlikely this is more of a fun thing to think of.
5.He reached the harbor before the ship could and has safely settled with his family elsewhere waiting for the compensation for his life.

Either one of these is a surity though.!!

[Briannagodess]

This is more like a mystery.
I engrossed myself in a discussion as what sherlock does :P :P
I even resorted to permutations/combinations and my 12th std maths.
I found there can be only be 5 possibilities
1.He sunk to the bottom
2.Will be washed ashore after body completely decays/decomposed.
3.Swims across to a nearby island
4.Pirates Kidnapping him/he went along willingly to reveal harbor secrets or whatever,though this sounds unlikely this is more of a fun thing to think of.
5.He reached the harbor before the ship could and has safely settled with his family elsewhere waiting for the compensation for his life.

Either one of these is a surity though.!!

I hope it is number five lol! Seeing that he is already 52 year old, he had probably spent most of his life at sea. I do hope his family gets some compensation but if he is still alive and hiding, he still deserves that compensation. Their jobs are one of the hardest, most dangerous in the world.

[bala]

I hope it is number five lol! Seeing that he is already 52 year old, he had probably spent most of his life at sea. I do hope his family gets some compensation but if he is still alive and hiding, he still deserves that compensation. Their jobs are one of the hardest, most dangerous in the world.

Exactly..!!
They wear the rough seas around and get paid peanuts.Its a high stake.
The neighbors or some media would have identified him then right ?
Do they have a take on his identity ?? If so identification will be way too easy.!!

Even if they have to give compensation they have to know identity right ??

[Briannagodess]

They did not release the identity. It is probably the family's request as the media is quite inquisitive and would want the sailor's identity exposed. I searched for articles stating his name or anything else but sadly, nothing came up. They probably want to keep it private.

You are very right! Add to that there is no wifi in the sea and they go for months without talking to their loved ones! I cannot imagine the homesickness they endure!