The following is a journal entry from my friend Mark Jensen. He and I are currently on a cruise. The events described occurred yesterday, March 8, 2010.
The sea was rough as we awoke to another day in the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey! We sailed through the night from Athens, Greece to the port of Marmaris, Turkey. Originally we were scheduled to go to Rhodes, Greece today but the port was damaged last week in a huge storm making it impossible to land there. We were excited to see Turkey instead and add another country to the list.
The day began with the usual “good word” and workout as the ship was getting close to port. The sea was pretty rough so the ship was doing the “sway” a little more than normal. Not bad though. I jumped in the spa shower after my workout and the next thing I knew, the ship went through a slight tilt making it difficult to shower and keep the swinging shower door shut. I went out on deck after getting ready and found a nice day, about 65 degrees, but very windy. The wind was probably around 30-40 mph sustained. The port of Marmaris was beautiful with green hills and Muslim minarets dotting the panorama.
After breakfast, Ty and I headed down to meet the group and get ready to go out and see Turkey. We then heard an announcement that we couldn’t land because of strong wind gusts right next to the port making it unsafe to dock. The ship tried again for the next 90 minutes but the wind was gusting up to about 60 mph at times. We were then told it would be a day at sea and that we would sail for Cyprus so that we could be there tomorrow as planned.
As we headed into the open sea, the wind was definitely picking up. We went out on deck at around 11am and were told to get off due to the high winds. Ty and I were sort of bummed because it was fun to be out there. After lunch, we did a “deck sneak” as we call it around 12:30pm. The wind was howling. It felt like one of those rare Kaysville days when the east wind would howl down from the mountains and make it hard to stay put. Ty and I had a hard time getting around on the deck so we made it a quick “deck sneak.”
As the day wore on, we noticed the sea getting rougher. The white caps were beginning to look like white caps straight out of a Hollywood set. Being on a monolith of a cruise ship that was built last year, we didn’t think too much of it. Ty and I headed down to our room around 1:15pm to get some reading in before a group meeting at 2pm.
Our cabin is on deck one, all the way at the front of the ship. We have two little port holes and can see all the waves below us every day. Even though we are on deck one, there are decks below us for the crew and other ship maintenance needs. I would estimate that our window is about 40 feet above sea level. As we sat in our room reading, the spray from the waves would fly past and cover our port holes momentarily. We had a stormy night the first night we were on board but this far surpassed it. Ty and I had joked earlier in the week about the Titanic and getting swallowed by the sea. Deep down we knew this was near impossible and had a good laugh over it.
At about 1:30pm, the ship began to list to one side and then quickly began to tilt downward. All of a sudden, our port hole became submerged with water and our glass vase slid off the coffee table to the floor creating a shattered mess of glass and sand.
Ty yelled, “I’m outta here!” I grabbed my back pack and we ran into the hall. It was surreal – trying to make our way down the hall which was on some weird axis we had never experienced except maybe at a ride in an amusement park. I kept falling into the wall and my Ipod Shuffle went flying out of my backpack. We ran up four flights of stairs to deck 4 which is where the muster stations and life boats are. In the rush and confusion we didn’t grab our life vests and looking back, that is what we obviously would have done differently.
We ran, or stumbled, to the part of the ship that was not quickly nearing the ocean surface. Ty and I got next to the muster deck doors which overlook the main atrium below (equivalent to the hotel lobby). The scene before us was madness. Glass was shattering everywhere creating a machine-gun like atmosphere. The bar tenders were trying to stop things from falling, but bottles of alcohol and hundreds of glasses spilled to the floor. Huge kiosk machines and other electronic devices were toppled over.
All of a sudden on the floor below us, the doors to the deck swung open. The scary thing was seeing water splashing onto the deck which is deck 3, meaning that the two floors of cabins below were submerged as well as the crew decks below that. Crew members were running around everywhere trying to shut the doors and secure loose items. Adrenaline was definitely pumping.
Ty and I stayed put in our spot hoping the ship would right itself, all the while preparing to either head towards a lifeboat or just get on top of the ship which was dangerously tipping over. The Costa Pacifica is no small ship. Over 3,000 guests are on board with 1,500 crew members to assist us and the 14 decks we enjoy. The ship was built in 2009 and is as modern as they come.
After what seemed an eternity, the ship slowly began to tilt back to a more normal position. The people stuck in elevators were able to finally get out. After talking with others, we estimate that the ordeal lasted for about 7-8 minutes.
On deck 9, the swimming pool completely emptied its waters causing people, chairs, and tables to slide into the windows and walls facing the ocean surface. We heard that someone got a concussion during that event. Nearby in the buffet, a fire began but was quickly put out. We also heard that another passenger went into a seizure. I’m sure others suffered physical malady during “the incident” as we now call it, but we don’t know for sure. Italian passengers were running around screaming, crying, you name it. Ty and I didn’t panic but were defiantly scared and in a “fight or flight mode.”
Things slowly returned to normal and the cleanup began. We found out that at the time of the tilt we were experiencing sustained winds of 80-90mph with gusts of 115-120mph. Ty and I don’t really know what happened up on the Captain’s deck – a ridiculously stupid turn or just conditions beyond control. A cruise ship in Egypt last week had huge waves heavily damage the ship killing two people and injuring 14.
As we talked to crew members after the fact, they said that they had never experienced anything like this or heard of anything like it happening. Most of the passengers on this ship are senior citizens and would not have even had a chance to get off the ship or even force their doors open to get out of their rooms. If we had not righted ourselves, we’re afraid that there would have been many deaths, especially considering the crazy waves and cold water.
Ty and I are grateful to be alive tonight as we sail through the same waters of Paul and reflect upon his shipwreck near the very same spot. “Master the Tempest is Raging” has taken on a new meaning. We are not the ones in control down here on this earth – it was a humbling reminder from above.
**On a lighter note, we love our cabin steward named Heri from Indonesia. We always joke around with him in his broken English. After “the incident”, we asked Heri if he had been scared. In his Ghandi- like voice he said, “yes yes, Mr. Roney, Jensen, Heri very scared” and then he broke into his high-pitched hilarious laugh.
