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CNN Live Today

Interview With Ship Captain, Men he Rescued at Sea

Aired June 24, 2003 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It happened again. For the second time in a week the crew of an international cruise ship has rescued men from their sinking vessels. These are pictures of the dramatic rescue in waters off the Atlantic Ocean taken just last Friday night. The Nordic Empress was on its way from Bermuda to New York when its crew spotted a capsized sailboat with two men clinging to it. The rescued sailors arrived safely in New York on Sunday.
We are joined now on the telephone by the ship's captain Yngvar Knutsen and the rescued men Rick McKenna and Tim Kent. Gentlemen, I'm glad you are able to be with us. Thanks very much.

Tim, let me begin with you. When did trouble strike? Here you are, an experienced seaman, you've been out on the boat, traveling the world, in fact, and you're heading to New York. What happened on your sailboat?

TIM KENT, RESCUED AT SEA: We were about 100 miles north of Bermuda when Rick heard two large bangs from down below. The boat slowly started rolling on its side. I untethered my safety harness and walked back to the back of the boat, looked around the bottom and saw that the lead weight that holds the boat upright snapped off. And kind of like a teeter-totter When you lose one person, the boat was like rolling over. We just had enough time to reach inside, grab some flares before the boat rolled upside down trapping us underneath.

WHITFIELD: And thank goodness, Tim, you even credited the Around Alone Race for requiring any of the vessels to have certain emergency gear. And you had these waterproof flairs.

Rick, were there any signs leading up to the fact that your boat was about to come into trouble? There were no warnings, were there?

RICK MCKENNA, RESCUED AT SEA: No, there weren't any warnings. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was in wonderful conditions and well-prepared for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) people had done a great job in getting the boat prepared. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WHITFIELD: OK, OK, Rick. Since we're losing your transmission a little bit, I'm going to bring in the captain, because it was your ship that actually helped pull these guys to safety. Did you see that there was a sailboat in danger or was it the flares that really brought the attention to the boat?

YNGVAR KNUTSEN, CAPTAIN, NORDIC EMPRESS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we saw -- the officer on watch on the navigation deck saw the flares. It was dark. And he saw the flares and he paged me, because I had just finished (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dinner. And so I gave the order to change course. And the it was the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of rocket that was fired up.

WHITFIELD: Now how did you actually get to the sailors? What did you have to use? And here it is in the darkness of night, at least the pictures we're seeing right here. And I imagine the seas were fairly treacherous as well.

KNUTSEN: Yes, it was blowing quite hard. It was up to 35 miles wind, and the seas were ten feet, I suppose down there. But they were very professional-like at sending up rockets at certain intervals. Because we did not have any radio contact at the time or we did not see the objects on the radar either.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) sending off rockets at intervals. So we steered towards the rockets as they were sent up. And at the end, we found something floating in the water. (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And after a while we saw what was there. It was a capsized yacht with two people clinging on to the hull. A large yacht.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And, Tim, you all must have had an incredible feeling of relief when these guys just happened to be in the right place at the right time and were able to pull you to safety. I bet you really are counting your blessings that they were there when they were and that you all are here to tell your story.

KENT: We really are. We were very fortunate. We were only upside down for about an hour and a half before we were rescued. And today I'm going to head back to Rhode Island to get on one of my competitors boats to try to go locate the boat.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. And I imagine this is not enough given you have been sailing for a long time, most of your life, this is not enough to discourage you from hitting the high seas again, is it?

KENT: Absolutely not. I'll be back on a boat in the high seas tonight.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Well, you know, best wishes continued -- great wishes to all of you. And we're all thankful you are all OK and that the ship was there when it needed to be. Captain Knutsen as well as Rick McKenna and Tim Kent, thanks to all of you for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 24, 2003 - 11:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It happened again. For the second time in a week the crew of an international cruise ship has rescued men from their sinking vessels. These are pictures of the dramatic rescue in waters off the Atlantic Ocean taken just last Friday night. The Nordic Empress was on its way from Bermuda to New York when its crew spotted a capsized sailboat with two men clinging to it. The rescued sailors arrived safely in New York on Sunday.
We are joined now on the telephone by the ship's captain Yngvar Knutsen and the rescued men Rick McKenna and Tim Kent. Gentlemen, I'm glad you are able to be with us. Thanks very much.

Tim, let me begin with you. When did trouble strike? Here you are, an experienced seaman, you've been out on the boat, traveling the world, in fact, and you're heading to New York. What happened on your sailboat?

TIM KENT, RESCUED AT SEA: We were about 100 miles north of Bermuda when Rick heard two large bangs from down below. The boat slowly started rolling on its side. I untethered my safety harness and walked back to the back of the boat, looked around the bottom and saw that the lead weight that holds the boat upright snapped off. And kind of like a teeter-totter When you lose one person, the boat was like rolling over. We just had enough time to reach inside, grab some flares before the boat rolled upside down trapping us underneath.

WHITFIELD: And thank goodness, Tim, you even credited the Around Alone Race for requiring any of the vessels to have certain emergency gear. And you had these waterproof flairs.

Rick, were there any signs leading up to the fact that your boat was about to come into trouble? There were no warnings, were there?

RICK MCKENNA, RESCUED AT SEA: No, there weren't any warnings. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was in wonderful conditions and well-prepared for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) people had done a great job in getting the boat prepared. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

WHITFIELD: OK, OK, Rick. Since we're losing your transmission a little bit, I'm going to bring in the captain, because it was your ship that actually helped pull these guys to safety. Did you see that there was a sailboat in danger or was it the flares that really brought the attention to the boat?

YNGVAR KNUTSEN, CAPTAIN, NORDIC EMPRESS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we saw -- the officer on watch on the navigation deck saw the flares. It was dark. And he saw the flares and he paged me, because I had just finished (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dinner. And so I gave the order to change course. And the it was the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of rocket that was fired up.

WHITFIELD: Now how did you actually get to the sailors? What did you have to use? And here it is in the darkness of night, at least the pictures we're seeing right here. And I imagine the seas were fairly treacherous as well.

KNUTSEN: Yes, it was blowing quite hard. It was up to 35 miles wind, and the seas were ten feet, I suppose down there. But they were very professional-like at sending up rockets at certain intervals. Because we did not have any radio contact at the time or we did not see the objects on the radar either.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) sending off rockets at intervals. So we steered towards the rockets as they were sent up. And at the end, we found something floating in the water. (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And after a while we saw what was there. It was a capsized yacht with two people clinging on to the hull. A large yacht.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And, Tim, you all must have had an incredible feeling of relief when these guys just happened to be in the right place at the right time and were able to pull you to safety. I bet you really are counting your blessings that they were there when they were and that you all are here to tell your story.

KENT: We really are. We were very fortunate. We were only upside down for about an hour and a half before we were rescued. And today I'm going to head back to Rhode Island to get on one of my competitors boats to try to go locate the boat.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. And I imagine this is not enough given you have been sailing for a long time, most of your life, this is not enough to discourage you from hitting the high seas again, is it?

KENT: Absolutely not. I'll be back on a boat in the high seas tonight.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Well, you know, best wishes continued -- great wishes to all of you. And we're all thankful you are all OK and that the ship was there when it needed to be. Captain Knutsen as well as Rick McKenna and Tim Kent, thanks to all of you for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com