Yesterday afternoon, the nine-man crew was about halfway between the island of Fehmarn and the Mecklenburg coast in their two-master when the accident took its course. The main gaff broke and the skipper suffered a bleeding wound to his head as a result. It was possible to treat this with onboard equipment. But then the engineer was hit.
When trying to start the engine of the almost 26 metre long traditional workboat, the starter failed. The 65-year-old inhaled toxic fumes in the engine room. He needed medical help more urgently than the skipper.
With two lifeboats to the distressed vessel
After receiving the distress call, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Bremen alerted the volunteer sea rescuers at the Kühlungsborn and Warnemünde stations. In south-westerly winds of around four Beaufort, but in heavy seas, the crew of the "Wilma Sikorski" managed to come alongside the stricken vessel around 15 nautical miles off Kühlungsborn.
A sea rescuer trained as a paramedic boarded the two-master. He found the 65-year-old patient, who was also suffering from seasickness, in a state of shock. After first aid with oxygen, he managed to stabilise the man. His blood pressure and pulse normalised.
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"Due to this improvement and the heavy swell, we avoided the risky transfer of the patient to sea. Instead, we left him on board and continued to care for him there," reports Rainer Kulack, foreman of the "Wilma Sikorski". The decision proved to be the right one: after the rescue cruiser "Arkona" from Warnemünde had taken the shark cutter on the hook, the patient's health improved noticeably. The skipper, who had suffered a head injury, was also doing well according to his own assessment and did not want to leave his ship.
The sea rescuers towed the two-master safely to Kühlungsborn. An ambulance took the 65-year-old to hospital.
It was only at the weekend that sea rescuers were called out on an equally unusual mission. A seaplane had got into difficulties on the Szczecin Lagoon.
