Michael Krieger’s All the Men in the Sea: The Story of DLB-269, An Oil Pipe Laying Barge Caught in Hurricane Roxanne in 1995
As the story opens the 269 is about 60 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The barge is a mini-community with 245 workers on board. Everything from welders, to seamen, carpenters, to cooks are employed to make the vessel as independent as possible. As the officers and executives in charge learn about a new storm headed their way, they make the choice to ride it out at sea.
The underwater divers (who do the pipe laying on the surface floor) were put under accelerated decompression so they could escape before the storm hit. These early sections are intense, but the 269 and her two tug boats make it thru Roxanne with minor trouble and a decent scare.
Two days after passing them up initially Roxanne turned a loop and headed back towards the barge. As the Category 1 system pounded down on them, the men soon found themselves facing 90 mile-an-hour winds and seas between thirty and forty feet high. The tugboats valiantly tried to save the barge, but she soon listed and all the crew ended up in the maelstrom.
Here is where All the Men in the Sea spends the majority of its time. Pieces of the boat explode, men go overboard, electricity shorts out, oil leaks, and massive waves break the barge to pieces. The descriptions are riveting. As the crew take their chances in the sea, the two tugboats and another ship responding to their May Day, heroically pulled all but eight to their safety. These captains and their crew did this remarkable task over a series of over twelve hours, almost ending up in the Gulf themselves.
It is a truly inspiring story the way the human spirit rose up on this horrible day. The chapters dealing with groups of crew trying to stay alive for hours on end, in pitching, rolling seas are amazing. And as stated earlier, the bravery of the rescuers cannot be overstated.
All the Men in the Sea ends with an epilogue focusing on the crew who sued the companies responsible for leaving them out at sea. Also quite a few have been scarred for life, suffering medical and emotional problems that might never go away.
This is not the best book on hurricanes I’ve ever read. But All the Men is quite possibly one of the most remarkable stories about the will to survive and save others that I’ve ever had the pleasure of discovering. I would not be surprised of Hollywood makes this into a film some day. Highly recommended.
