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By ELIZABETH VUVU
TWO people from Karkar Island were rescued by Rabaul Shipping’s Kimbe
Queen last Tuesday in the middle of the night while the ship was on its
normal run from Madang to Wewak.
Managing director Peter Sharp said from Rabaul that according to reports
from the two rescued men, they were amongst 11 people on board a 19-foot
banana boat that left Kabuki in North Coast Madang last Monday afternoon
and were bound for Kinim on Karkar Island.
The two – Jude Kaski, 24, and Walter Ilo, 25 – t old ship crew that the
boat operator was allegedly drunk.
At about 4:30pm last Monday, the operator swung the engine to the right
causing the boat to capsize, throwing all 11 people into the water.
Amongst the 11 were a woman and four children.
A boat in the vicinity took the mother and the four children on board
and the boat operator said he would drop them onto the nearest shore and
would return for the other six people still in the water.
Reportedly, no one came that night and the next day, the people who were
still floating at sea tried to swim ashore.
Mr Sharp said the Kimbe Queen was on her normal run from Madang to Wewak,
leaving Madang at 5pm on Tuesday. The course from Madang to Wewak runs
up to the North Coast between Karkar Island and Manam Island.
He said the captain was on watch from 8pm to midnight and over the sound
of the waves, radio and the engines, he heard someone call out for help
from the water.
Mr Sharp said the captain immediately turned the ship around and
listened for the people.
 
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