Escaping a sinking ship is the difference between life and
death - can you survive? The odds of you being trapped on a
sinking ship are extremely low, thanks to today's advances
in safety and technology. However, there are still
occasional disasters, such as with car and passenger
ferries, and some of these accidents can occur when you're
traveling in a country whose safety standards have been less
stringently applied. If you should ever find yourself in
this life-threatening situation, here are some suggestions
for you learn in advance, just in case.
!! Steps !!
!! The Basics: Before Setting Sail !!
* Understand the mechanics behind a sinking ship. While this is
mainly for the sake of curiosity, understanding how a ship sinks
can be useful and give you a sense of what occurs if you're ever
stuck in the situation of being on a sinking ship. Water usually
enters the lowest point of a ship first, the bilge area.[1] Ships
have bilge pumps to remove this water once it reaches a certain
level. Reasons for why a ship might sink include a low transom,
missing drain plugs, cooling system leaks, navigational error,
hitting another ship or an object such as an iceberg, or openings
either incorrectly closed or bashed open (such as doors on a car
ferry).[2] A ship that is suddenly taking on water will start to
rock less and less. If the ship is rolling a lot, it's more stable
than if it's not. The ship will start to heel as more and more
water enters the ship and spreads throughout its different
compartments. By this stage, the captain needs to make a decision
to abandon ship if everything the crew has done to this point
isn't working. From this point on, sinking will occur quickly.[3]
Always check for the location of personal flotation devices once you
have boarded any sea vessel. Whether you're going on a short trip
across the harbor, a day trip, or a cruise, knowing the location of
the personal flotation device in advance may save your life.
* When going on a cruise, part of the standard safety drill at the
beginning will include asking you to check that your PFD is in the
cabin space. Be sure to check for infant or child PFDs if also
needed and alert crew immediately if these are not in place. In
addition, look for the lifeboats nearest to your cabin, along with
any obvious markers that might lead you to the boats if visibility
became bad; as with aircraft, there will often be lights
designating where safety exits are.
* Read the instructions for putting on the personal flotation device
and using it. If you have any questions, ask the ship's crew.
* If you're traveling on a ship where the crew speaks a different
language from your own, find people who can advise you directly on
what to do in the event of an emergency. It is prudent to seek
this information even before you board the ship.
Think about your sense of etiquette. Although philosophical and
theoretical in nature, the question is: What will you do if push
came to shove? Would you expect to see women and children off first,
then men? Or is it everyone for themselves? Your viewpoint will
impact the manner in which you respond during such an event. There
is no right or wrong answer; it's based on your conscience, beliefs,
and attitude.
* A recent study theorized that your sense of etiquette might vary
with the speed of the ship's sinking.[4] Frey, Savage, and
Torkler's study[5] found that more women and children survived the
sinking of the _Titanic_ than on the _Lusitania_, where more young
men and women survived. The _Lusitania_ sank in 18 minutes,
whereas the _Titanic_ sank in 2 hours, 40 minutes, and the study
concluded that selfish behavior dominates when people are under
pressure to survive, whereas social norms and status hold when the
pressure is less evident, causing those who behave like gentlemen
to end up losing their lives. In addition, the chivalrous behavior
of British men has been posited as a reason for why more of them
lost their lives on the _Titanic_ than American men, who were
thought to display more individualistic behavior.[6] Make of that
what you will!
!! If Sinking Is Imminent !!
* Send out a Mayday if you're in charge of the sinking ship. Read
How to call Mayday from a marine vessel to learn how to do this.
Listen for the evacuation signal. This is standard – 7 short horn
blasts followed by one long one.[7] The captain or other crew
members may also use the intercom system to speak to all other crew
and passengers. Quickly read any accompanying
instructions Put on your personal flotation device (PFD). Be as
prepared for the exiting the ship as time allows. If you have time
to grab your own PFD and any survival items, do so. But only if
doing so won't endanger your life or the lives of anyone dependent
on you.
* If you have time, put on all your waterproof gear, such as
headgear, jacket, and gloves.[8] If there is an emergency survival
suit available and time permits, put it on. Note that while
survival suits increase your chances of surviving in cold water,
they are unlikely to be provided on passenger ships. For crew who
have access to such suits, they will usually be required to
practice putting on this suit within 2 minutes.
Attend to all infants, children, and pets after you've prepared
yourself.
Listen carefully for directions Follow directions. This
may be the most important step of all. If you don't know
how to get to safety, the captain or one of the crew
members will tell you how. Ship's crews are highly
trained in rescue operations on many ships and will have
a better understanding than you about what needs to be
done to ensure your safety. You should only attempt to
escape on your own if there is no authority present to
give proper directions. A well-run ship will have a
"muster station" where everyone needs to head to in
order to move together in an orderly fashion. If you
received a safety drill in going to a muster station,
try and comply with it.
* If you can't hear or understand the directions (for example, it's
not your language), keep one thing in mind - head up and off the
ship. Heading to the center or inner levels of the boat is not
wise but don't be surprised if people do this as a result of
panic.
* If the captain assigns you with tasks, speak up if you don't feel
you can comply. Otherwise, do your best to help out.
Stay calm and don't panic. It may sound like an inevitable
cliché, but the more you panic, the longer it will take to get to
a lifeboat. Studies have shown that only about 15 percent of
people manage not to panic, with a whopping 70 percent suffering
from impaired reasoning and 15 percent becoming irrational.[9]
Thus, staying calm is important for dealing with other passengers
as well as helping to keep your own mind focused to do whatever
you can to survive. If others around you are panicking, try as
best you can to calm them down. It will only slow down and
possibly endanger your evacuation. Unfortunately, panic on a
cruise is something that can endanger everyone owing to the amount
of people involved and this can lead people to push and shove one
another, causing injuries before people have even left the
ship.[10]
* Be aware that the opposite spectrum of panic can kick in – that
of being stunned and unable to respond at all.[11]
* Try to focus on keeping your breathing under control. If you're
used to breathing for yoga, pilates, or any similar relaxation
breathing techniques, use these to calm you, as well as resorting
to breathing this way if you end up in the water trying to
survive.[12]
Grab what you can to stay upright Focus on escaping via the quickest
route, not the shortest route. Getting out fast is more important
that getting out by going the shortest way which might even lead you
to more danger. As the ship begins to tilt, grab whatever you can to
help you remain upright and able to reach your destination, such as
handrails, pipes, hooks, light fittings, etc.
* Do not take the elevator. Just as you should avoid elevators when
escaping a fire, the same applies here; all electrically driven
items are suspect. The last place you'll want to be on a sinking
ship is stranded in an elevator, so only use it as a last resort
of evacuating if the stairs are flooded.
* While still in the inner deck areas, watch for catapulting or
floating objects coming your way. Large items hitting you can
knock you unconscious or kill you.
Once you've made it on deck, head to your emergency station or the
nearest lifeboat available. Most of today's cruise liners run
safety drills and procedures prior to departing on voyages so that
passengers know where to go in the event of an emergency. If not,
head to where it seems that the crew are assisting passengers to
escape. Crew will usually be the last to abandon ship, as it is
their duty to get everyone else off the ship to possible safety
first.
* Don't play the hero by staying back while crew is on board. Do
what needs to be done to ensure that survival of yourself and your
loved ones is not compromised. This isn't the movies.
Find a lifeboat. The very best scenario is to enter a lifeboat
_without getting wet_. The moment you're wet, you risk getting
hypothermia or suffering from cold shock (see below). If lifeboats
are already deployed, head for the best place to enter or jump into
them, following instructions of crew if relevant.
* If there are no lifeboats available, try to find a life preserver
ring or similar flotation device and toss it into the water. Any
flotation device is better than none, although your survival
chances decrease dramatically once you're forced to spend time in
the water.
* You may need to jump off the ship, or in some cases, simply step
off an incline. If there is a lifeboat nearby, swim to it, wave
your arms, and shout to attract attention.
* If jumping, always look first. There may be people, boats, fires,
propellers, etc., in the water below that you could hit or be
submerged in. The ideal scenario is getting straight into a
lifeboat; if not the next best scenario is to jump as close to a
rescue boat as possible and make your way into it immediately.
Stay calm in the lifeboat, follow directions, and wait for rescue.
Waiting alone in the open ocean without the comfort of a large
ship will undoubtedly be frightening, but be patient. Help is on
the way.
* In a lifeboat, use rations sparingly. Use flares only when it is
clear that doing so will result in a rescuer seeing you. Huddle
together to keep warm. Arrange lookout watches. Collect rainwater
and don't drink seawater or urine. Treat any injuries as best you
can.[13]
* Stay determined. Stories of survivors at sea are a testament that
it is the most determined who survive harsh waiting conditions
leading up to rescue.
* If you couldn't find a lifeboat, look for the next best things,
such as a life raft, or bobbing objects from the ship (flotsam)
that remain afloat.
Expect some harsh realities. If you don't end up in a lifeboat
either straight away or fairly quickly, your survival odds worsen a
great deal. The sea is cold and if it's rough, even the strongest
swimmers will have a hard time defeating the cold and the sea
swells. Inadequate amounts of lifeboats or lost lifeboats mean that
there can be more people than space, causing more panic and even
endangering the remaining lifeboats as people desperately cling to
them or clamber on.
* Being in cold water will cause hypothermia. Hypothermia will cause
you to want to sleep. If you fall asleep or fall unconscious, you
risk drowning.
* Cold shock is the kind of shock that comes from hitting cold water
and being unable to control your breathing while your heart rate
and blood pressure go up, immediately incapacitating you.[14] Cold
shock can cause you to take an involuntary breath, which will
often cause you to take in water.[15] While those who are used to
entering cold water can tolerate this for initial few minutes
required to regain your senses, many people are not able to do so
and drown. This cold shock phenomenon occurs _before_ hypothermia
sets in.
* Shock may set in, causing everything to become surreal and to
prevent you from doing your best to survive. If shock doesn't set
in, mental distress is a highly likely possibility, with nothing
but water everywhere, right to the horizon, and no knowing when
rescue will arrive. Try to prevent this by focusing on surviving,
using mind games, counting, thinking about other people's needs,
etc.
* Your hands and fingers will become numb very quickly, making even
doing up a lifejacket difficult, if not impossible.
* Even in good weather, heatstroke, sunburn, and dehydration soon
become an issue. Try to cover yourself up as best you can and
ration water supplies carefully.
* If you do survive, be ready for the reality that some of the
people on the lifeboat with you may not. Seek counseling for
post-traumatic stress disorder if needed.
!! Tips !!
* If possible, take plenty of food, water, blankets, and a compass
along with you in the lifeboat. These will be essential basic
survival tools should you find yourself stranded for longer than a
few hours.
* Make an emergency flotation device. If you have no time to throw
on a life jacket, make your own personal flotation device as
follows: Remove your pants and knot them at the ends (bottom of
the legs). Wave them in the air above you so that they fill with
air. Push the waist end under the water. This will trap the air
inside and create a flotation device that you can hang onto.[16]
Although better than nothing, naturally, this device depends on
your wearing pants, being strong enough to remove them and hold
them up, and the sea water not being too cold or rough.
* To collect rainwater at sea: Spread a waterproof sheet or tarp
across the lifeboat or raft to collect rainwater and dew.[17]
* The following table details your survival time in water:[18]
*Water Temperature*
*Exhaustion or Unconsciousness*
*Expected Survival Time*
70–80° F (21–27° C)
3–12 hours
3 hours – indefinitely
60–70° F (16–21° C)
2–7 hours
2–40 hours
50–60° F (10–16° C)
1–2 hours
1–6 hours
40–50° F (4–10° C)
30–60 minutes
1–3 hours
32.5–40° F (0–4° C)
15–30 minutes
30–90 minutes
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