Florida Catholic | Tragedy Aboard The Madeleine

Tragedy aboard the Madeleine

A pastoral reflection on the deaths of three longshoremen in Port Everglades.

FATHER THOMAS FALKENTHAL | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 07.14.08

It was so early in the morning when the phone rang that it was still dark outside. Somehow, even before answering the call, I knew it was bad news. Sure enough: an accident on a ship in Port Everglades; three people dead.

Three longshoremen – Hayman Sooknanan, Rene Dutertre and James Cason – had entered an enclosed cargo hold containing a leaking tank of argon gas. They were overcome by the lack of oxygen and lost their lives. It took only moments for the horrific tragedy to run its course early in the morning of May 20.

The adrenalin jolt instantly cleared away any remaining sleepiness. The initial, “Oh no!” quickly became, “O Lord, hold them gently in your hands.”

By the time I arrived at the port, Deacon Ron Perkins, who lives only five minutes from there, had been pierside with the emergency responders and in the port administration building comforting family members as they rushed in.

The most anyone can do in such moments is receive their tears, accept their groans of anguish and listen to their endless protests against the unspeakable pain.

Deacon Perkins may have been ordained less than two years, but he earned his stripes that morning.

When I arrived at the ship, it was obvious things were far from normal. Crew members of a container ship in port are always busy, always moving to and from and always in a hurry. Doing ship’s business requires eyes clear, alert and quick to understand. Not this time.

The seafarers were all standing in small groups of three or four, not working, not talking, just standing. If one moved a few feet, the others seemed to follow as if no one wanted to be alone – something quite uncharacteristic and yet understandable.

Their eyes were unfocused. Their greetings were hushed and reverent: “Thank you for coming, Father. You know what happened, right?”

The ship’s master was waiting at the gangway for the chaplain’s arrival. Asking if I could meet with the entire crew, he gathered all hands in the crew’s mess. Shoulder to shoulder in that now cramped space, they shared how well they knew these three men who always worked their ship.

Their grief was palpable; so was their fear. After all, it might have happened to them. Would there be a next time? Would it be their families receiving the bad news? How much more would their families back home – so many thousands of miles away – worry when they got today’s terrible news?

The entire crew shared their hearts and their prayers. When the prayers concluded, a quiet comfort seemed to fill the room. The ship’s master asked if I could walk the ship and bless all the spaces with holy water. And so we did, both inside and alongside the ship from the pier, the crew walking with me each step of the way.

Just before I left, the master asked if I could give him a candle. “I’m Russian Orthodox and candles are important to us,” he said. “They remind us of God’s presence with us aboard our ship.”

That was followed by the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing for the employees of the company that employed the longshoremen, Florida Transportation Services. About 75 of Sooknanan’s, Dutertre’s and Cason’s buddies gathered, each feeling hollowed out by grief.

Deacon Perkins and I conducted the debriefing, helping those present to better understand what they were feeling and how to deal with it constructively.

The support for the memorial service held June 5 was extraordinary. Representatives of Florida Transportation Services, Port Everglades leaders and workers, members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Port Everglades Association, and our own Seafarers’ House team – everyone did everything they could.

In a way, we are all seafarers here. Some of us go to sea and others serve those who do. Surely all of us in Port Everglades – and south Florida – are people of the sea.

Father Falkenthal, a retired commander in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, directs the Apostleship of the Sea for the Archdiocese of Miami, ministering to those who work for the cruise and cargo ships that sail into Port Everglades and the Port of Miami.

A SEAFARER'S PRAYER

O Lord, anchor of my life, stay near me as I stand my watch.

Keep me alert because the safety of shipmates depends on me.

Help me see the beauty of your creation as I sail your vast oceans.

Keep me faithful to those I leave behind, and bless them while I am away.

Protect us from all the perils at sea.

Calm the waves and hush the wind.

Bring me safely home to my family and friends.

Help me keep you within my heart.

Amen.

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Tragedy aboard the Madeleine

A SEAFARER'S PRAYER

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