A brush with death on alien seas

All his dreams could have drowned along with the Koosha 1, the off shore support vessel on which he had been working, which sunk near the Iranian coast on Thursday, 20 October.  The crew and a group of divers were conducting an underwater pipeline installation. While a few of his colleagues, including six Indians were killed, Avinash and two other colleague from Kerala were rescued.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on the phone from his home in Kasaragod, Avinash, who was rescued by Iranian trawlers, said it was divine intervention that saved him. Avinash returned home on Wednesday morning. His colleagues Muhammed Hanifa from Uppala and Sanoop from Kozhikkode have also returned.

“It was around 4:30 in the evening and we were a bit worried as the sea was rough and conditions stormy,” Avinash said remembering the mishap. The ship had 73 crew members and a heavy load including equipment. The diving chamber was on board with 13 divers including six Indians.

 “All of a sudden it happened. We felt like the ship swaying to one side. Suddenly the water rushed in and we realised that the ship was sinking”, said Avinash. All this happened in a few minutes, he added. “I jumped into a life boat along with others. We were rescued by an Iranian trawler which was fishing nearby,” he said.

According to Avinash, the load in the ship was concentrated on one side which might have lead to the ship losing equilibrium and sinking. He said Iranian authorities were helpful once they reached shore. They had arranged a medical team at the port and he and friends had a smooth release after check-up.