COCK Disaster 1

### ///RANDOM INCIDENT///

Deep in the sea of moving ice a disaster was brewing. The air is frigid and the waters were becoming more and more frozen as the minutes ticked by. Two ships, both racing against time to free themselves from its clutches were minutes from disaster and they didnt realize it.

The first ship was a COCK flagged, but civilian company owned icebreaker trying to get back to port to refuel before the ice set in so that it could do its job and keep the ice at bay as long as possible. The second ship was a COCK flagged whale watching ship that had stayed in the arctic slightly too long.

The weather was especially bad, with heavy fog, no stars or moon to light the night sky, and high waves blocking the horizon. The ships radars had both failed, with the icebreakers knocked out by the storm and the tour ships turned off because the deck watch was tired of false readings due to the storm. The courses were set, the conditions perfect, and the human error present.

At exactly 0200 a massive thud was heard, followed by the sound of screeching metal and rushing water. The icebreaker had slammed right into the tour ship and broken it in half. Both halves slowly started to float away from each other in the bad conditions. The icebreaker had to make a choice, it could only follow one, and it chose the forward half. What the icebreaker didnt know was that the forward half contained only the bridge staff of 3 crew. The other 50 crew and tourists were in the rear half, floating helplessly without the vital radios and radars on the bridge. The icebreaker was able to catch and rescue the 3 crew from the bridge who immediately told them of their critical mistake. The icebreaker radioed into the nearest port in COCK about the incident and explained what had happened and that they could turn back but were unsure if they could mak i.

Rob Forrest it has already been three hours since the accident occurred and with the sea conditions that could have pushed the rear half a sever distance away. You may use the icebreaker if you wish but remember it was also in a collision and likely suffered damage and that the ice is rapidly forming in that are. Sea conditions are at 10 feet average waves, with swells of 20+ feet. Visibility from the air is less than 1 mile, with visibility on the surface only a few hundred meters due to fog. There is 50 people still floating in the sea of moving ice, aboard a floating half ship for now. How will you respond?

### Response

Disaster Response 1.

As soon as the distress call is received, the King of Fortress Uropa and the Empress of Katan are picking up their phones and making calls to friendly Nations. As Katan has no military ports, only civilian ones, and as Fortress Uropa is landlocked, naval vessels are few and far between.

The Ice Breaker was told to secure the survivors of the front half and to return to port immediately, the SAR teams would get the others. On its way back it was to attempt a passing rendezvous with the RFTS to see if a visual inspection could be performed and anyone requiring urgent medical transfer could be brought across.

The Republic Federation of the Three Seas generously allowed the use of one of their destroyers that was out south of the impasse strait. A Search and Rescue Helicopter would rendezvous with the RFTS Destroyer south of the Empire of Kippon coast in International Waters, where it would be refuelled and the crew could rest prior to their search.

This would take time however, time the survivors might not have. So a Search and Rescue Float Plane was sent out ahead. Whilst it would be too rough to land and recover, its enormous fuel capacity meant it could stay on station and track anything it found so that the Helicopter would be able to come straight to the correct location and use its winch to raise up survivors two at a time.

However, this too was a long flight, and even with the extensive range, the Empire of Kippon also kindly agreed to have a mid-air refuelling aircraft meet them half way, to extend their stayability (yes, that’s a word now).

The Sea Plane, using its thermal imagery found the stricken Ice Breaker relatively quickly. There were some minor injuries, and they’d taken on a fair bit of water, but the engineers had managed to seal the bulkheads, and limping home seemed a viable option. The Ice Breaker, now in communication with the RFTS Destroyer has a course plotted that should negate the worst of the weather. The crew of the whaler however have suffered more severe injuries including a traumatic amputation of a leg, and a serious head injury. They will be transferred to the RTFS Vessel using their own SAR Helicopter.

The rear half was not so fortunate, having spent so long in the water, by the time the SAR Helicopter located it, there was no thermal signs to be seen. The Pilot took her down as low as he dared with the winds and waves, but there was no movement, no IR life-vest strobes, no flares, nothing.

After remaining on station for as long as possible looking for survivors in the water, they returned back to the RTFS vessel for refuelling before heading home. They would stay with the Ice Breaker as long as possible to ensure its safe return.

The Sea Plane refuelled and would also accompany the Ice Breaker back to port before returning with the Helo to Area 7 Military Base for debriefing.

Result:
50 Civilian Souls lost at sea.
Ice Breaker returned.
Crew of Whaler returned.