Our trips at-sea don’t always turn out to be happy experiences, and we don’t always achieve our objectives when we get onboard a vessel. My last sea-trip was testament to this.
It began in Puerto Madryn from where many Argentinean trawler vessels weigh anchor. We set off on May 4 and sailed two and a half days towards the southern tip of Argentina.
The first surprise was the presence of a large number of grey-headed albatrosses that accompanied the vessel. These are probably one of the most beautiful seabirds that I have had the pleasure of observing. Unfortunately, that same day the problems started.
A deep-sea trawl fishing net is an extremely heavy element, perhaps weighing around four or five tonnes. To manoeuvre this gear, the trawl vessels have powerful motors to deploy and retrieve the nets to and from the sea floor.
On the first day fishing the motors on this vessel suddenly started to fail! This meant that we were forced to spend a day returning to the nearest port, Puerto Deseado, to meet up with technicians to sort out the problem.
The next day, with repairs completed, we headed back out to sea but due to the delays stopped within 12 hours or so from port to search for schools of hake. This gave me the chance to start evaluating the seabird bycatch and our mitigation measures. However, as we hit the second day, everything got worse.
Shockingly, one of the main engines failed and the vessel’s hull began to rip open! A tiny crack in the engine room had started to spread. At this time our lives were suddenly in real danger. The captain directed the vessel towards land and laid on all the power available. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew practiced the routine of abandoning ship in case the situation worsened.
With waves of over four metres, we found ourselves out on deck, adorned with life jackets and listening intently to the officers who explained which life raft each of must take. Under these situations you really realise the danger that we confront every time we head out to sea.
After 12 hours, we finally arrived in port and this time we stayed put.
Onshore again we all felt safe and sound, happy although worried for the situation that we had just endured and hoping that we would not have to go through such turmoil again. This is the real life at-sea for so many and to keep this work moving we must adapt to it as best we can.