‘Hoping for the Best’

As Hurricane Ike churned toward the Gulf Coast of Texas, threatening a wide swath of the state's coastline with Category 2-force winds of 105 mph and a powerful tidal surge, the U.S. Coast Guard gave the order: all ships were instructed to leave port and head for safe haven at sea. The Antalina, a 584-foot freighter loaded with petroleum coke, heeded the warning and cruised out of Port Arthur to skirt Ike's wrath in a relatively calm spot on the open seas. But at about 4:00 a.m. Friday, the unthinkable happened: the ship's engines failed, stranding the 22-member crew about 90 miles southeast of Galveston, right in Hurricane Ike's path. The crew advised the Coast Guard of their predicament, but, perhaps hoping to repair the engines, did not ask to be rescued at that point, says Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry. Their situation, however, quickly deteriorated.

As the storm strengthened, the Coast Guard decided, at noon Friday, to dispatch two rescue helicopters, a Falcon jet, and two Air Force airplanes, to airlift the Antalina's crew to safety. But 20 minutes into the mission, the rescue helicopters were forced back by 90-mph winds and swells topping 20 feet—much too rough to lower rescue swimmers in baskets. The jet managed to circle the ship and reported that, so far, it was undamaged. "These are big ships," O'Berry tells NEWSWEEK. "They're built for rough seas. Ships have gone through worse storms and come through. So of course we're hoping they'll be fine."

Now the sailors aboard the Antalina are being forced to stay put, hoping their lights and pumps keep working even if the engines won't. They're wearing life jackets and staying in hourly radio contact with the Coast Guard, while a tug boat heads around Ike's path to bring them home after the storm. NEWSWEEK's Gretel C. Kovach spoke with Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for TEO Shipping, which manages the Antalina. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What is happening now with the crew?
Darrell Wilson: The crew is safe onboard the ship, they're just riding the storm out. Our guys [on the Antalina] are staying in close radio contact with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard asked them to turn on their emergency transmitting beacon, which will allow them to monitor and track the position of the ship.

How did they end up in this predicament, right in Ike's path?
They were discharging a cargo when the Coast Guard ordered all of the ships that were in the port to go out to sea, where it's much easier for a large ship to ride out a hurricane. Our ship headed out and suffered some kind of engine casualty. But they're not completely dead in the water. They have significantly reduced engine power, and it's just not enough to get them out of there. 

Fortunately the ship still had some cargo onboard, right?
Yes, if a ship has some cargo onboard, it helps stabilize it somewhat because it's not riding so high.