Fear of the sea still haunts

By LARRY ANDREW
SISTERS Grace and Amethyst Kunsei of Madang and West New Britain parents are still finding it difficult to go back to the sea. They don’t swim or are fearful when near the ocean. They were among other passengers on the ferry mv Rabaul Queen when it capsized in strong winds and rough sea in Morobe waters five years ago. More than 200 people perished in that tragedy that occurred about 16 nautical miles off Finschhafen near Fortification Point lighthouse. The two were among 246 survivors.
The sinking of the passenger vessel happened at about six in the morning on Friday February 2, 2012. Many Papua New Guineans woke up to hear about one of PNG’s worst sea tragedies. The heavily laden passenger ship was en route from Kimbe to Lae when it sank after being toppled over by freak waves. It was a rough night of travel and many passengers, and crew were still asleep- where they were because there wasn’t any room to move- when the ship went down. They didn’t stand a chance.
It is now five years on and many who survived have healed in different ways. Whether they fully recover from their ordeal is something only God knows. A recovery does not mean a completely new slate, as injuries always leave behind a scar whether it be on the body, in the heart or on the mind.
Grace and Amethyst live in Lae with their parents. They say life was tough for them in the first year after the incident. At the time of the disaster, Grace was 18 and selected to do Grade 11 at Lae Secondary School while Amethyst was 13 and about to commence Grade Six at St Pauls Primary School. The sisters were returning to Lae after spending the school holidays in their mother’s village in Kimbe. Also on that trip was their Uncle Philip Batari and two other cousins when the deadly waves struck the vessel. Batari is one of those passengers who didn’t make it. Earlier on, on that trip, he posted a picture on social media of the huge waves battering the side of the ship.
According to the sisters the ships tail was the last thing they saw submerging.
“After the accident … we have this fear of water. We have nightmares that wake us up in the night making us think that we are actually drowning. Though it’s been five years the fear of water is still fresh in our minds when we go out with friends for a swim at the beach, river or even at swimming pools,” Amethyst said.
She said they experienced bouts of heart burn for a couple of years after the accident but those are slowly diminishing. While life is almost back to normal for them now, the terrifying ordeal that they went through in those high seas in 2012 is still as fresh as ever on their minds.
Grace said, “As for me it’s been five years now that I have never touched the sea because of the fear that is still in me. But I am hoping to overcome that fear soon by going on a boat ride.”
Grace said their prayer is to see justice for those who survived, and for the families of those who perished.
Passengers on the boat that fateful day were from the ports of Buka, Rabaul and and Kimbe and consisted mainly of students returning to school. Bad weather continued for some days after the sinking and hampering search and rescue operations. Of those missing, only four bodies were retrieved.
The vessel sank after a large wave struck one side of the boat, causing it to tilt and two more following the first caused the vessel to not recover upright and take on water. Passengers were thrown overboard from every side and there was no time to look for life jackets, family members, friends and loved ones as the boat submerged with the force of the sea sucking it from all sides. On the lower deck the screaming of perishing children, mothers, elderly and the young and energetic was drowned by the overpowering sea. .
Oil from the ship began spilling out covering the sea area, making it very difficult for people see and breathe.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tipped of authorities in PNG after it received a distress call from the ships office in Rabaul. As the news of the sinking on the Vitiaz Strait spread, SOS messages of the mv Rabaul Queen’s sinking were quickly relayed to vessels travelling along the Vitiaz Strait with a joint rescue effort by Papua New Guinea and Australia quickly formed.
A P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force, three helicopters from Lae, four cargo ships and two oil tankers were involved in the search for survivors. The large foreign-registered ships were either on their way out or in to Lae when they stopped to help in the search and rescue operation.
In Lae, processing points for the survivors were quickly established at PNG Ports, Angau Hospital and Disaster Centre. These areas were set up to help cater for the victims as many of them (survivors) were psychologically traumatized. At that point, the survivors were being taken care of on the large ocean-going vessels, that were still stationed out at sea around the Finschhafen area in the hope of finding more survivors.
As night fell that day, the Lae main wharf was getting busy with the presence of medical officers, officers from the Morobe provincial disaster & emergency service and Morobe provincial administration. Officers from three disciplinary forces Police, Defence and CIS were already on hand to receive the survivors when the tugs brought them in. I was among the media personnel also waiting at the wharf that night.
At about 10pm, all services at the Lae port ceased so that everyone was on standby and assist the survivors. Everyone on the wharf that night scanned the Huon Gulf peninsular on that dark Friday night hoping to see the approach of vessels carrying the survivors. It was midnight when the first foreign vessel MOL SUMMER arrived with 116 survivors. It was followed by other four vessels MSC CAROLE (53), VIOLET (31), ZONG HE (29) and CAP SCOTT (9).
The vessels anchored away from the main wharf while the survivors were transferred on to PNG Ports pilot boats and taken to shore. A headcount of 238 was taken.
The Angau General Hospital was also on standby and all survivors were taken in for a general check-up. Those who seemed well were taken to the provincial disaster office premises to wait.
The news of the tragedy had already reached family members and friends as they all congregated at Angau Memorial General Hospital and at Morobe Disaster & Emergency Services yard, wanting to know the fate of their loved ones.
As there was no proper registration of who was on the boat, it took days before an ‘official’ manifest was produced. The real number of those who perished- including crew members- remains unknown to this day.
In Lae, a monument has been built at the old Lae cemetery opposite Huon Gulf Motel in remembrance of those who perished in the tragedy. Another monument, to be placed near Fortification Point lighthouse is yet to be constructed.