Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
And if anything can go wrong,
it will at the worst possible moment.
I read recently that the phrase, “the luck of the Irish,” has its origins in the United States and actually refers to bad luck. The phrase has many meanings, but I have been thinking about luck and curses lately because of a series of events that unfolded right outside my apartment window. The story actually starts elsewhere in Ireland.
Due, I believe, to bankruptcy, two almost-new ferries worth 6 million euro were sold at the reported price of 1 million euro to owners on the island of Mauritius which is located near Madagascar. These ferries were to be transported by ship to Mauritius.
The first stroke of bad luck occurred when the Pantanal, the ship that was supposed to transport the ferries, hit some rocks and suffered damage. That ship was moored in Galway Bay near Mutton Island for a week while the damages were repaired.
A second ship, the Thor Gitta from Denmark, stood in and arrived in Galway to pick up the ferries. On April 7, 2011, a second accident occurred. While people stood on the docks and watched the loading of the first ferry, the ferry fell forty feet into the water when one of the slings holding it snapped. Right before the accident, I had been standing on my balcony watching and taking pictures. I turned to go back inside and get my knitting. When I looked back out the window, the ferry had fallen and all the boats in the marina were rocking from the impact of the ferry when it hit the water.
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| People gathered to watch the loading of the ferries |
I am grateful I did not see the actual accident because the most horrifying part was knowing that there were three men onboard the ferry when it fell. That was all I could think of after the accident. I watched harbor personnel secure the ferry and ambulances and other emergency vehicles arrive. I was relieved to learn the injuries sustained by the three men were not life threatening. Still… The Galway Harbour Board launched in inquiry into the accident. The harbourmaster was quoted as having said the three men should not have been on the ferry when it was being lifted. Indeed.
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| The ferry right before it fell 40 feet into Galway Marina, you can see people on the ferry, to the left |
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| Emergency responders |
By now people began to refer to the ferries as “cursed” and there was great interest in the matter. A large crowd gathered at the docks to watch the second attempt to load the ferries on Saturday, April 16. This attempt was aborted when an alarm sounded on one the cranes.
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| Crowds gathered at the docks to watch the second attempt to load the ferries |
After testing the cranes, the first ferry was finally loaded onto the Thor Gitta on April 20. Securing the ferry took longer than expected, so the second ferry was not loaded until the next day. Many people walked or drove to the docks to take a look at the ferries after they were loaded onto the Thor Gitta.
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| Successfully loading the first ferry |
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| Both ferries aboard the Thor Gitta |
On Easter Sunday, April 23 at 8:45 AM, the Thor Gitta left Galway Marina with the two ferries onboard. A small number of people waved the ship goodbye. The trip to Mauritius, which will involve stops in France (for some ferry repair work), Congo, Cape Town and Mozambique, is scheduled to take 25 days.
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| The Thor Gitta set sail on Easter morning |
The Thor Gitta has been traveling for one week now. I hope any luck on the journey is good luck.
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