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FOUND:
One of the rescued men is assisted ashore.
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Photo:
LCDR Andrew Schroder
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By
Graham Davis
An
Australian Naval officer has played a vital advisory role in a
massive search and rescue operation, which has seen four fishermen
plucked to safety after swimming for 30 hours in the Pacific Ocean
off Samoa after Cyclone Olaf sank their boat and drowned two of
their mates.
LCDR Andrew Schroder, the Maritime Surveillance Adviser/ Samoa,
spent more than 50 hours assisting police officers in the Apia
Emergency Centre at a time when the occupants of four craft had
activated their EPIRBs and called for help.
The emergency took place over hundreds of square miles of ocean
in mid February and involved defence, police, emergency service
personnel and civilian rescuers from Samoa, New Zealand, the United
States and Australia.
LCDR Schroder said that on February 13 he received information
that a possible cyclone was developing about 360 nm north-west
of Apia.
The depression did generate into a cyclone and was dubbed Olaf.
It eventually became a Category 5 “twister.”
It stalled 70nm from Apia saving the city from serious damage
but it was those still at sea for whom concern was raised.
“On Tuesday February 15 a report was received from FV Courer de
Bais that another vessel, the Tau Tai 11 had sunk and that the
crew had taken to their liferaft,” LCDR Schroder said.
“Two EPIRBs had been activated and were being track by the Rescue
Coordination Centre in Wellington.
“ The Samoan Police Commissioner, in consultation with the MSA
(LCDR Schroder) determined little would be gained attempting a
rescue in those current conditions.
“As such the beacons were tracked and when the weather had sufficiently
eased a rescue would be attempted.
“Unfortunately by the following morning four vessels were either
lost, missing or had activated EPIRBs.
“They were the Tau Tai 11, 120nm north of Apia, Courer de Bais
90nm north-east of Apia, Tifai Moana, 130nm north-west of Apia
and Nogommoda 130nm east of Apia.”
LCDR Schroder said a wide search was under way on the Wednesday.
It involved two NZAF P3 Orions, a US Coastguard Hercules, the
179 m container ship Coral Islander and four smaller vessels.
“At 4pm a P3 located Courer de Bais. Communications were established
and the aircraft reported the vessel dead in the water with six
people on board. Three were hurt.
“The Coral Islander was given the boat’s position and headed to
it.
“About 10 minutes later the P3 located wreckage and four men swimming
in the water.
“Their position correlated with that of the Tau Tai 11.
“Two life rafts were dropped and all four were observed entering
the rafts.
“We now know these men had spent 30 hours swimming through the
cyclone.
“The P3, low on fuel, returned to Samoa. “While on route the aircraft
located and established communications with the Ti Fai Moana who
reported all aboard being well.” LCDR Schroder said the second
NZ Orion was tasked to the area to continue the search.
“At about 9pm RCC Wellington informed Samoa that the FV Melinda
had located Nogommoda and reported all well.
“The Melinda then closed the main search area to assist where
possible. “Additionally the FV Pele reported being in the main
search area and was tasked to close the position of the Tau Tai
11 and recover survivors from the raft.
“On Thursday morning Pele located the Tau Tai 11 men in the P3
life raft.
“Upon recovering these men Pele reported a further two men missing
from the sunken Tau Tai 11”.
Pele brought the four survivors to Apia that afternoon.
About 3am that day Melinda and Coral Islander found Courer de
Bais and she was towed to Apia.
LCDR Schroder said the search and rescue operation was a complicated
affair that coordinated three aircraft and multiple ships for
a generally successful outcome.
“All Samoan police personnel involved in the operation were Australian
trained under the Defence Cooperation Program,” he said.
“In all, three lost vessels were located undamaged and four lucky
men were amazingly located and pulled from the water after 30
hours adrift.
“Unfortunately two men lost their lives despite the best attempts
of the combined effort to recover them.”
LCDR Schroder spent 50 hours in the operations room of the National
Coordination Centre at Police Central Apia assisting the lead
coordinator Inspector Mulinu’u (he is also the CO of the Australian
built Samoan patrol boat Nafanua) and his team.
