The answer is no, or not yet. Our Sampan is still looking good and still good to load in more and more passengers. It is like Noah loading the animals for a journey instructed by God. Fill them up! The captain is very confident that this Sampan would not sink even if it is loaded with 6.9m, and more when the need comes. Maybe by then another hull will be added to turn it into a catamaran, safe, stable and sound.
The South Koreans did not have an unsinkable catamaran. And they did not have a good captain too. And the tragedy is still unfolding with a target of at least 300 innocent school children on the death list. Obviously the captain was confident that his ferry would not sink. It was is good condition and plying daily through the Korean sea to Jeju from the mainland. It was a routine trip. All system go. Even if a trainee or assistant was at the helm, nothing drastic could go wrong. And the passengers of teachers and students have great faith in the captain, his crew and the ferry to provide a safe journey to their paradise island.
There was a bang. The ferry either hit something or something exploded. Nevermind, the captain was in charge. He told everyone to remain calm and stay where they were. Do not panic, do not rush as it would be dangerous doing so. The captain could not see anything serious like the sinking of the ferry on his radar. He probably thought it was a minor problem. There was time.
There was plenty of time to evacuate the passengers. The ferry was sinking slowly. Yes, the captain had all the time in the world to mount an evacuation, to get the passengers to put on their life vests like the drill before the journey. The captain had all the time to lower the lifeboats. There were 46 of them.
No one could see the danger ahead. The teachers and students remained calm and stayed where they were told. Some were in the lower levels and in their cabins. And the ferry continued to sink. No one panic. No one could think of the worst, not even the captain. And the ferry continued to sink, and even with half the ferry on its side, it was all calm. The passengers remained in their cabins, having full faith in the good judgement of the captain. And the ferry continued to sink. And the captain still did not call for a full evacuation. And the ferry continued to sink, with nearly all its obedient sheeples inside their cabins, all waiting for instruction from the captain to evacuate.
They did not know, I think, that the ferry was sinking. The captain did not tell them so. Some were still in the dining hall having their breakfast. And the ferry sank.
Where was the danger? Where was the early warning or signs of a big mishap on the way? No? Everything is under control, trust the captain and his crew. The ship was not going to sink and bring its passengers under.
The rest is a very sad story. The moral of the story? How much shall you trust your captain? How much can you trust that the Sampan will not sink? How much must you trust yourself, your own judgement, that when things are bad, it is bad. Get out when you can to save yourself. Let the captain sink with the ferry. But the captain was too smart for that. He left the sinking ferry in time to save his own skin.
PS. The final reply by the crew of Sewol when told by the maritime traffic control. 'Make passengers wear life jackets and get ready in case you need to abandon ship' is'It's difficult for the passengers to move now.' Think 2030!
Chua Chin Leng AKA RedBean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/