Boat Sinks, Passengers Battle For Life In Sea

15 Sep 2015: Sun Morning boat departed from Male' last with 80 passengers, among them were men, women and children. Boat was heavily loaded with cargo and people visiting other islands for Eid celebrations. After travelling for over 30km the sea became too rough and wind picked up. The captain decided to anchor at a reef and wait for weather to permit travel.



Around 5:00am the boat continued rest of the journey. But, half an hour later wave lapped over the boat and it started sinking. In few minutes everyone wore life jacket and jumped into the sea. Among them were 6 month baby, wearing a life jacket, parents tried to keep her above water but it was not helping much against merciless waves of the deep ocean.



Light of the dawn was already present, you could see each other while in the water. Women and children were screaming for life. Some swam to the reef, but most stayed in the open water, may be to allow rescue boat to come and pick up quickly.

After an hour of horrific moments, a boat from near-by resort came for rescue, a moments later Coat Guard arrived at the scene and everyone was rescued alive.

Thanks to Adaaran Club Rannalhi for being the first to arrive and rescuing the people battling for life in the water. Thank you Maldives Coast Guard for your assistance.

Editor's Note: Local transfers are different from tourist arrangements. Boats used in local transportation are often loaded with bulky cargoes of all kinds including building materials, fuel, food etc, that is in addition to passengers and their luggage. Tourist transfers are much safer, the speedboats usually travel with passengers and luggage only, leaving plenty of capacity unutilized.



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