Searching for survivors of the Rabaul Queen

Last week, the MV Rabaul Queen sank off the coast of Finschhafen, about 100 km east of Lae. You’ve probably heard about it on the news. A tragic event, and this time quite close to home for us. And yet I didn’t realize at that time how closely I would be involved. Somehow or other, a few days later, I was asked to help out with the search and rescue mission by looking for survivors and bodies.

I would end up spending two days on a helicopter, searching over the waters of the Solomon Sea. The pilot and I spent hours covering various search areas assigned by Australian Search and Rescue, scanning the waters below, hoping against hope to find someone alive yet several days after the disaster.

When we started our search, only two bodies had been found. We added to that count. We found one woman who had died in the disaster, and not so far away, one empty half-submerged life raft. Those are unforgettably vivid images that bring a lot of emotions and questions. This is a woman who remains anonymous to me, and yet must have friends and family who will miss her terribly. I know now what they don’t know – that she has died – but I don’t know who she is and I am powerless to inform her loved ones. I wonder… what were the last few moments of this woman’s life like? Did she have children with her who also died – or survived? Was she possibly on that life raft for a while, only to die of exposure or be washed away by a wave? Will I get to meet this woman in glory some day? Many more questions were mulling around in my mind as we continued the search.

Being in a small helicopter, it was not our job to retrieve anything or anyone from the water. I’m rather glad for that; I’m sure that would be even more difficult. We just radioed in our GPS coordinates and others would take care of the rest.

We spent the night in Popondetta, and the next day continued our search. We found nothing more – just driftwood. We also some flew over and searched around some beautiful coral reefs and islands. I found there was a terrible paradox in this whole search and rescue mission. Here we were, flying over some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, places teeming with life that the ultra-rich of the world pay big bucks to see – and yet in this beautiful place, we were surrounded by ugly death, looking for more death.

We returned to Lae. The next day, my co-worker Ian and I went to the disaster centre in Lae, where many of the survivors and victims’ families were gathered. Now there are human faces and names to this tragedy. Real people, suffering real loss. We did our best to give encouragement in Scripture and prayer, guiding people throughout their intense suffering to still cling to God, who allowed this to happen in his sovereign will and yet is also our only hope in this life and beyond. “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5).

Refuelling at a remote jungle location. 

The PNG coastline along the Solomon Sea.

Searching.

Searching in the rain proved quite a challenge.