Abandon ship!
BANG!
5:04am After over 2 hours suspended in lifeboats awaiting news the fire was under control, a sudden, small explosion near the front of the ship sends a plume of smoke sideways. Seconds later the captain commands “Abandon Ship, Abandon Ship”!!
This photo is looking forward on the port side. The plume of smoke is clearly visible against the dawn sky.
I’m not certain why the passengers are leaning inward but I believe it is because they are listening to the crew instructing what to do next. The instruction was something like... “Make room, the crew is going to board the boat.”
So the already fairly crowded lifeboat accommodates (gladly) another 10-20 crew members. Including the Canadian woman who has been looking after us, hotel staff, and several technical staff members. We are all in this together.
So down we go like a toy dangling from two strings.
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5:08am Now the technical crew is in control.
Look at all the hands...Our boat doesn’t have much in the way of places to hold onto so everyone just latches onto whatever part of the people around them they can grab hold of.
The scariest part for our boat is when the large pullies are unhooked from each end of the boat to release it. These big heavy metal pieces swing wildly as the ship and our lifeboat each bounce and sway independently. Everyone ducks and hangs on tightly fearing these crew members unhooking us could have their skulls cracked and/or get knocked right out of the boat.
Ironically, one of the lower sets of port holes just inches behind these guys is probably our stateroom, #108. We sure never looked out our window and thought we’d be out there in this vessel. But it’s a good place to be at this point.
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5:08am The covered lifeboat in front of us tips precariously as it lowers toward the water. It then settles and is launched without major incident.
At this point we also notice the two very large liferafts in the water further forward which is another sign of how serious this situation is.
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Info about images/video of the windsong fire and evacuation available by emailing: windsongfire at gmail dot com