by Georgina Maka’a
It was the middle of the night when the MV ANJEANETTE was suddenly engulfed in smoke.
For sailor Staivy Ramo, the first sign that something was seriously wrong came when he woke inside the vessel’s wheelhouse and saw thick black smoke rising below.
“When I woke up, I looked down and saw thick black smoke,” Ramo told the Independent Board of Marine Inquiry in Honiara.
Ramo was giving evidence about the fire that destroyed the MV ANJEANETTE in early July, recounting the confusion and desperate efforts to escape the burning vessel.
“I was in the wheelhouse with a coworker when the fire started on the ship,” he said.
The inquiry heard that the vessel’s final voyage followed several days of cargo operations.
According to Ramo, cargo had been transferred to the ANJEANETTE from the MV Awka, after the Awka abandoned its voyage to Rennell and Bellona because of adverse weather.
Cargo was loaded between Monday, June 29, and Thursday, July 2.
Ramo told the inquiry that the ANJEANETTE had been loaded for what was regarded as a standard cargo voyage, despite carrying fuel drums and gas cylinders.
The presence and handling of the fuel and gas are among the issues now being examined by the Marine Board.
Ramo recalled seeing welder Joseph Tauto aboard the vessel at about 7 pm on Friday, July 3.
He later completed his shift at about 10 pm and went to sleep in the wheelhouse while another crew member remained on watch.
At about 2 am on Saturday, July 4, deckhand Andy Ilabae began his watch in the wheelhouse with two other crew members.
Within the next hour or so, the situation changed dramatically.
Smoke began filling the wheelhouse, and the crew raised the alarm sometime between 3 am and 4 am.
The thick smoke quickly reduced visibility, making it difficult for those aboard to assess and respond to the fire.
After the alarm was raised, Ilabae evacuated to the wharf.
He then dived into the sea to help two ship engineers who had reportedly jumped overboard to escape the intense heat.
As the fire continued, other crew members and port security personnel joined crew from the nearby MV Awka in trying to reduce the danger.
They manually moved heavy fuel drums away from the burning vessel in an effort to prevent the fire from triggering further explosions.
The emergency response eventually ended with police transporting the crew to the station.
But one person was still missing.
Welder Joseph Tauto could not be accounted for following the incident and is presumed dead.
The Independent Board of Marine Inquiry is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the MV ANJEANETTE fire.
Its examination includes the vessel’s compliance with maritime safety requirements, the handling and transportation of fuel and gas cylinders, and the circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the fire.
The inquiry will also seek to establish the sequence of events that led to the vessel being destroyed and whether required safety procedures were followed.