Always Expect the Unexpected

We left Mangalore, India, on Monday, the 14^th and began our voyage to Muscat, Oman.  Around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the 15^th, an announcement was made for medical staff to report to the crew area on Deck 11.  (We were later told, unless the announcement was prefaced by “for exercise, for exercise,” the announcement is for real.  

A little while later, while we were in our cycling class, a further announcement reported that an independent contractor fell into the exhaust funnels and the ship's personnel was in the process of rescuing him.  

Later that day, the Captain advised that we would be heading towards Mumbai, India, to transfer this man to local medical personnel for further medical care.  As a result, we would be unable to get to our next port, Muscat, Oman, and would sail directly to Dubai, UAE.  

The following day, a written notice was received about the situation:

“I am pleased to report that the medical evacuation of the injured independent contractor was completed successfully to a local boat with shore side medical staff onboard, and at the time of his departure he was reported to be in serious but stable condition.  He is conscious and communicating but has sustained multiple fracture wounds and will received further treatment in Mumbai.  We are currently investigating the cause of this accident and our thoughts are with him for a full recovery.

“We departed the anchorage at Mumbai at 2:00 a.m. this morning and are now proceeding directly to Dubai.  Regretfully, we have cancelled our scheduled call to Muscat (Mina Qaboos) on Thursday, March 17, 2016…”  

The silver lining in all this:  As we were planning an excursion to the Grand Mosque, there was no further need for me to figure out how to wrap my infinity scarf around my head to avoid any of my hair from showing and having to wear long sleeves and pants in 90 degree weather. 

As you can see, safety and security of all passengers is of the utmost concern for our Captain.  It’s comforting to me to know that I or Michael would receive the same attention, concern and courtesy as everyone else onboard in the event of such a medical emergency.

P.S.  It’s been a few days since I’ve written this but waited to post it in chronological order with our other travels.  Today, I was speaking to a very nice passenger and we were talking about coming to Dubai without stopping in Oman.  We bought expressed relief that the independent contractor, a man named Victor from Ukraine with two children, is doing ok.  She said she heard some passengers complaining about missing the port of Muscat, Oman, because “he was just a contractor.”  Why doesn’t this surprise me?