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Oceans
Oceans
Rescue efforts[edit]
As no alarm or announcement was
given that the ship was in trouble,
several passengers went to the bridge
to look for the captain but found it
unmanned. Entertainer Moss Hills
then used the radio phone to broadcast
a mayday until a ship answered.[4]
Nearby vessels responded to the ship's
SOS and were the first to provide
assistance. The South African Navy
along with the South African Air
Force launched a seven-hour mission
in which 16 helicopters were used to
airlift the passengers and crew to the
nearby settlements of The Haven and
Hole in the Wall (
3220S 29636E32.03333S
29.11000E), about 10 km (6.2 mi)
south of Coffee Bay. Of the 16 rescue
helicopters, 13 were South African Air
Force Pumas, nine of which hoisted
225 passengers off the deck of the
sinking ship.[5]
All 571 people on board were saved.
Moss Hills organized the orderly
evacuation of passengers by the
helicopters and is generally
acknowledged as the leading hero of
the event. Hills and fellow entertainer
Julian Butler[6] directed the efforts of
the entertainment staff, which
included Tracy Hills (Moss Hills'
wife) and Robin Boltman,[7] to assist
Aftermath[edit]
Captain Yiannis Avranas and the crew
were criticized by passengers for
leaving hundreds behind with no one
other than the ship's onboard
entertainers to help them evacuate.
Avranas claimed that he left the ship
first to arrange for a rescue effort, and
then supervised the rescue from a
helicopter. He justified his actions
saying that the "ship was in darkness
and the batteries on the crew's walkietalkies had died, meaning that he had
no communications with his crew or
with other rescue craft".[10] Avranas
was quoted as saying "When I order
abandon the ship, it doesn't matter
what time I leave. Abandon is for