FIFTY-four-year-old Guy Rausch of 31 Delph Avenue, Campbellville Georgetown has God, three sodas, a life ring and a 100-pound gas cylinder to thank for his life being spared today.

This single-parent father of four was the first to jump from a sinking cargo vessel, the “Captain Safie”, which was on Saturday evening heading to Port Kaituma, North West District when it encountered difficulties and went down. Incredibly, he was the last to be rescued.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday at the Maritime Administration Department in presence of the department’s safety director and Director General, Rausch confirmed that at the time the vessel went down, he and the other crew members were dumping cargo from the vessel, which had begun shedding cargo and was listing (capsizing).

Rausch explained that they were ordered by the head of the crew to dump the cargo in an effort to balance the vessel; and while some cargo was being dumped into the river, others were being moved from one side of the vessel to another.

The sailor said the cargo onboard the vessel was general cargo, which included bags of rice, flour, aerated beverages, water and other items. He admitted that the vessel was indeed overloaded, hence the difficulty they encountered.

This publication was assured by the man that every other thing on the vessel was in proper working order, including the engine. He pointed to the genesis of their problems that took them to death’s door and back.

While the vessel continued to list, it began taking in water, and Guy Rausch, who was on the left side of the vessel, took the first plunge from the sinking vessel and secured a gas cylinder, three bottles of drink and a life ring to aid his survival through the night and until he was rescued.

At the time he jumped to safety, the other men were still on the boat at another section, but they too eventually jumped off. From the time he jumped off the boat, he had not been able to lay eyes on any of the other crew members, and he wondered if they were able to be rescued.

Guy Rausch has been working at sea since in the 80s. He explained that he floated with the life ring and other items until dayclean on Sunday morning, when he noticed the sun rising. He explained that he saw the sun rising and knew that the direction the sun was rising would be Georgetown, so he tried to make his way in the opposition direction as he was aware that he would have been able to meet land.

Rausch said he attempted on three occasions to reach land, but found that to be hard, as the tide continued to rise and fall, and because of the well as the water current.

It was not until Sunday afternoon that Guy Rausch spotted a fishing vessel and crew, who were picking up their net, and he decided to open the gas cylinder and release the gas out of it causing, it to catapult into the air, attracting the attention of the fishermen and their vessel.

When the men arrived, he was pulled from the water. He first informed the men what had happened the night before and informed the crew that there were three other persons on board the vessel with him at the time it went down.

They returned to the area and conducted a brief search for the men, but could not have stayed long in the area since the fishing vessel was not equipped with enough fuel to carry out a prolonged search.

They then headed into Port Kaituma. He was rescued about 17.00hrs on that Sunday afternoon.

It was his first tip on that vessel, as was the captain; while the other two crew members would have been traversing that area before.

Asked about his ordeal in the water, Guy Rausch said he always had a positive approach to the entire situation, and told himself that he needed to live and that is what he did. he said that at no point did he panic while pointing out that the sodas that he secured were to aid his survival as he knew the salted water would not have been any good for his survival.
Guy Rausch went on to explain that he later learnt that the other three crew members were rescued before him, and they also went back in search of him. He could not calculate the distance between where the vessel went down and where he was rescued as, according to him, the rise and fall of the tide made it hard for him to tell, as well as the fact that he was new to the area and unfamiliar with its Geography.

Guy Rausch’s four children are aged 20, 19, 16 and 13. He said that the eldest is an immigration officer, while the second child was expected to start a new job on Monday. Rausch said that child would fail to do so after the tragedy. His other two children are still attending school.

BY Leroy Smith