The inspiring story of Capt. Sumant Varma and his crew who saved 22 lives during a cyclone
The hardships of living at sea are many. Rough weather, an almost non-existent social life, months of separation from friends and family; and lack of comfort makes a sailor’s job very different from those of others.
But at the same time, life aboard a ship can have its share of countless adventures and extraordinary moments.
Sumant Varma, a captain in merchant navy, had his most extraordinary moment when he found himself leading a valiant rescue operation at sea recently. His wife, Vanya, who was with him at the time, takes us through her husband’s story of valour.
Sneak peek into a life less ordinary
Sumant travelled a lot during his early years, living all over India and Nepal. This love for travel was what led him to join the merchant navy as a cadet in 1983, says Vanya, whom Sumant met in Delhi, his hometown, when she was a student of fashion design at NIFT.
Reminiscing about her travels with Sumant after their marriage, Vanya, says, “Our exciting tours have taken us around the world many a times. From the aurora borealis near the Arctic to the pirates trying to board our ship in Somalia, we've had all sorts of bitter sweet experiences.”
But they also had their moments of anxiety and even fear. From being stranded in the middle of the ocean when the engines failed to being caught in the eye of a devastating cyclone, everything on a ship seemed unpredictable, says Vanya.
According to her, staying away from home on a ship with no network made life difficult earlier. But in recent years the Internet has come as a huge sigh of relief helping sailors connect with the outside world.
“These discomforts are compensated by happier times,” she says.
“Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, myriad colours of the sea, oceans over the world changing colours from white to blue, green, brown, even grey and watching the moonlight reflect off the waves creating a million diamonds in the waters make me wonder if the stars in the sky are more beautiful or the waves in the ocean.”
Act of heroism
It was a little less than a month ago when Capt Varma exhibited great nerve in a situation where the brain usually goes numb.
On 30 May 2017, the two main seaports in Bangladesh, Chittagong and Mongla, suspended cargo operations and closed ports following warnings of a powerful tropical cyclone TS Mora hitting the shores. Military forces, rescue and medical teams were kept on standby and with the highest warning signal of a number ten, all ships at Chittagong were asked to leave their ports.
Heeding the warning, MV Dubai Knight, the ship with 25 crew members including Captain Varma and Vanya, sailed 200 nautical miles away from the anticipated route of the cyclone.
But while the ships and their crew sailed to relative safety, there were fishermen at sea unaware of the impending danger. “What about the unsuspecting fishermen who had already sailed out few days ago, unaware of the impending doom? Ignorant of the intensity and velocity of a deadly cyclone?” says Vanya.
Recalling the events of the next day, she says that around 7.30 in the morning, fascinated by pelagic life forms having spotted dolphins just the previous week, she looked out her window hoping to see what nature had in store.
“I spotted some algae-like float but with moving extrusions. On closer inspection, to my horror I realised they were human arms frantically waving out to catch attention of the watchkeepers in the passing ship.”
In panic, she called out her husband Sumant to show him the sight of struggling survivors. At the same time, another officer calling from the brigade reported spotting the same sight and asked for directions on the course of action.
“Quite often, life puts us in situations that test our integrity. This was one of those times,” says Vanya.
Capt Sumant reacted immediately ordering the ship to be turned around and rang the Designated Person Ashore (DPA) for permission to deliver the survivors. of TS Mora.
“Manoeuvering a loaded bulk carrier in the aftermath of the TS Mora was difficult, but with God’s grace and a very efficient crew and officers, all 6 survivors were picked up,” remembers Vanya.
The six fishremen picked up were originally a group of 10 whose boat was wrecked on 29th morning. They had been floating on buoys for three days without food and water.
She recalled that these survivors were so liveless that they even had difficulty dringking water.
“They seemed completely overwhelmed. Even drinking water down their parched throats was difficult. First aid was administered and dry clothes were provided to the ones who had lost theirs in the fight to stay alive. Thankfully, there were no major injuries, but their faces were swollen, eyes were blood red,” she says.
As MV Dubai Knight made its way back with the survivors, watchkeepers looked for more survivors. .Around 11.20 in the morning, they spotted a even larger group of people.
Vanya, who was a witness to all this, says, “Seemed like more than 16 people were holding onto their fishing buoys and each other, waving their wiry arms about. Capt Varma made another urgent call to the head office, and once again the rescue operation commenced. This time the sea was much choppier and the weather bad due to Mora Madame’s wrath.”
Rescue in choppy weather is always a difficult and dangerous proposition. But Capt Varma and his team held their nerve during the operation.
At first, due to the humongous waves the ship was turned around and could only pull up one person. The others, unable to withstand the strong currents were taken away to rear of the ship.
“The vessel was turned around the second time and painstakingly, once again, lines were thrown, as few more swam with all their might towards our ship, they were pulled up with care into the strong arms of safety and life. Slowly, over a physically and mentally exhausting 90 minutes, a total of 16 fishermen were pulled up on deck. Their eyes were glazed over and faces wore a numb expression, but gratitude was largely written all over them.” says Vanya describing the terrifying scene.
The entire crew on the ship spared no effort to help make the 22 survivors comfortable after the torment they had been through. With what must've been the longest three days in the lives of these survivors, they were grateful to be alive and breathing.
Vanya ends by saying, “All the 22 survivors disembarked on a navy appointed boat. The crew went back to cargo discharge and I to my porthole watchkeeping, humbled and thankful to God for having given to us this opportunity to render assistance to 22 precious lives.”
The fearlessness shown by Capt Varma and his team came in for much appreciation by the maritime world.
Capt Jitendra Misra, Managing Director of Emarat Maritime, says, “I am extremely proud of the prompt and professional actions of the crew on Dubai Knight. Despite having gone through a very rough and harrowing time negotiating tropical storm Mora, they followed the age-old tradition of saving distressed persons at sea and the assistance they have given these 22 shipwrecked victims of storm Mora undoubtedly made the difference between life and death.”
An act such as this revives one's faith in times where chances of survival seem bleak. Capt Varma held his ground and proved to be nothing less than a saviour to the people rescued. His story is beyond doubt, inspiring.
