The Nespelen is Crushed in the Ice
The Nespelen is Crushed in the Ice
Next Previous At 05:05 we awakened to the sound of tearing metal, and, soon, the clanging of the alarm bell. The ship had a list on it and as we dressed to go topside, we feared we were sinking. We were caught between the ice shelf we were moored to and a huge mass of ice that had been driven into us by the wind. I rushed topside after getting my camera and some candy bars. The sound of metal ripping and the bending of plates filled the air. Some of us discussed what we would do if we had to abandon ship.
In the picture below, you can see the hummocks of ice created by the pressure--the ship is caught in the middle. The ice shelf that hit us was over a hundred square miles and was driven by a strong wind.
The reason that the water in this picture looks purple is because it is really a mixture of water and avgas (aviation gasoline). This gasoline is even more flammable than the gas that you use in your car. We were in a very precarious situation.
I had no duties, so while everyone else was running around trying to save the ship, I took pictures. I joined some of the crew who went out on the ice to look at the damage and got the picture below which shows the hole in the side of the ship.
Captain Supp called for help and the icebreakers Edisto and Eastwind came to our rescue. I was really glad to see them.
The Edisto comes closer and I could hear their captain announcing that the smoking lamp was out because of all the avgas that had leaked into the ocean.
We are soon able to get underway after they created a path through the ice. The Nespelen had a heavy list to starboard because the tanks that were filled with water were heavier than the tanks filled with gasoline. Now, in addition to the problems sleeping from the vibration adn the rolling of the ship, we were listing to one side.
(I have written a short story "Summering in the Antarctic" with a ficitonalized version of this incident; you can find it at the following link)
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