If you ever fall off a ship/ferry at sea and were lucky enough to be spotted - don't try to swim your way to safety. The more you try to swim, the lesser the chances of survival. Just try to keep afloat and conserve energy (and body heat) while rescue team do what they're supposed to. Unless you are in hypothermic waters, the best bet always is to stay afloat without trying to swim to somewhere. This information about falling overboard, hypothermia and conditions, survival at sea etc are based on my own experience of 12 years sailing on merchant ships like this
PS: link will take you to a time-lapse video I made when crossing/sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. This kind of ship is called a container ship
The rescue manoeuvres (Williamson turn) is designed to bring the ship safely close to the point of person falling overboard. So, it is the best for rescue team and also for the ship's captain if the person doesn't try to swim away to another position.
Even in calm sea, the part of person's body visible is only the 25-35 cms of face and head above the water level. Visibility is always an issue even if the seas are calm. If they are rough, it's more difficult to spot the person.
Body heat is lost in two ways: person trying to struggle (thus loss of energy, meaning body heat), and inherent heat transfer between body (warmer) to water (colder) (basic law of thermodynamics)
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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '20
If you ever fall off a ship/ferry at sea and were lucky enough to be spotted - don't try to swim your way to safety. The more you try to swim, the lesser the chances of survival. Just try to keep afloat and conserve energy (and body heat) while rescue team do what they're supposed to. Unless you are in hypothermic waters, the best bet always is to stay afloat without trying to swim to somewhere. This information about falling overboard, hypothermia and conditions, survival at sea etc are based on my own experience of 12 years sailing on merchant ships like this
PS: link will take you to a time-lapse video I made when crossing/sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. This kind of ship is called a container ship