Memorie.al / On the evening of February 25 and the early hours of February 26, 1973, exactly 52 years ago, a tragedy occurred near the shores of Bari, Italy! Within a few hours, 5 cargo ships sank, along with the overwhelming majority of their crews. It was an event that shook the entire public opinion! The Albanian ship “Korabi” and its crew, which had sailed from the port of Durrës to arrive in Bari, was also in danger of becoming part of this tragedy that night. Ismet Teli, 72 years old, from Shkodra, who was a navigator in the Albanian Merchant Fleet for 43 years, was part of the “Korabi” crew and today, after 52 years, he recounts in detail everything that happened then for the first time. “That was and remains the darkest day of my life, the day we looked death in the eye,” says Teli.
We present his story in the following interview, where he also mentions having been involved in three ship collisions.
Mr. Teli, what happened that day?
That time of horror cannot be told in one answer; even today, after 52 years, when you remind me of it, my body shivers! I will start from Durrës. We had loaded about 955 tons of marble stones onto the ship “Korabi” to send them to the port of Bari. Our crew consisted of 23 people, plus one woman named Zorka, who was from Zadar, Croatia, married to engineer Kakarriqi in Durrës.
She was going to her daughter, who lived in Italy. The ship’s hold was filled with marble stones, while we placed only two of them on the ship’s deck, one weighing 12 tons and the other 14 tons, on the right and left sides, secured (tied) with 26-millimeter cables. We did this to maintain the balance of weight on the ship.
At 17:40, the Garbía wind (south-west) began to blow. Immediately, the ship’s captain, Haxhi Shehu, changed the ship’s course from 272 degrees to 265 degrees, with the intention that, when the waves rose, he would present the ship’s stern to the sea and take the course towards the port of Bari. Meanwhile, the radio operator, Gani Daja, and I were playing backgammon. The Captain, who was directly observing the situation at sea, instructed us not to sleep in the cabin, but on the armchair in the navigation room. It was an evening where the sky had rarely been so clear, reflecting everything on the troubled sea! I had just gone outside with Ganiu and we were observing. We saw a black cloud, initially small, but it was growing. We, the sailors, call it plivadore.
From experience at sea, we had learned that that cloud signaled an extraordinary storm! Under these conditions, we divided the tasks to be prepared for the worst. On the port and starboard sides, all the cabins were hermetically sealed, and we did the same with the ship’s living quarters. 22 minutes after the appearance of the black cloud, the sea began to boil like a cauldron from the pressure of the waves that kept growing and growing!
We now understood clearly that the night would be very difficult and dangerous for us, although we did not express this to each other. To be a sailor, you must have two characteristics: bravery and composure. Shakespeare divided people into living, dead, and sailors. Why did he place sailors below the dead? Because they defy death.
Were you getting ready to rest as instructed by the captain?
Who was thinking about resting in this situation! We went up to the command room, where Aleko Stavri was at the helm. Aleko tells me, “Ismet, the sea hasn’t gotten to me, but I don’t feel well, I’m tired!” It was 17:52, and darkness was gradually taking its place. I tell him, move away, I’ll take the wheel, and so it happened. Fortunately, I had worked years earlier with the old captain, Muharrem Baze, who had taught us how to orient the ship even without a compass, using the stars and the wind!
He was a sailor with vast experience, a school for young sailors, like me, who had not been in the fleet for more than 7 years. Although the waves were constantly rising, colliding more fiercely with the ship, and the sea was getting so rough that sailors in such cases call it agitato, I tried to maintain calm and clarity in steering the wheel.
At these moments, we were 1 hour and 5 minutes away from the port of Bari. We presented the stern to the sea (the ship’s back), the sea had reached the point that sailors call the fortunal-trum level – the most dangerous situation for ships to sink. The clock hands showed 20:32 minutes when the cables holding the two marble stones on the deck broke! They slid and leaned on the port side, but fortunately, their impact was cushioned by colliding with two large boxes containing Zorka’s belongings.
I say fortunately because if they had hit the side part of the deck, they would have breached it and water would have penetrated inside. The ship listed 14 degrees. That area still took a hit, but the amount of water entering was small. However, the loss of the ship’s balance due to the stones sliding increased the panic! That’s what we did! Zorka was in the waiting room, to whom we gave a bucket to vomit, and we locked her in. This was to prevent her from being distressed by what was happening, although she had understood the situation.
As you describe, the situation was becoming more complicated. Did you continue to believe you would make it?
It is easy to talk today, but under those conditions, when you look death in the eye, you can imagine what position we felt we were in! I don’t have to hide it, but even though we were declared atheists, we prayed to God! There came a moment when the ship’s wheel no longer responded, but had turned 14 degrees to the left when I needed to turn right, as the most suitable direction to avoid the wave collision even slightly! I had to be careful because the two marble stones on the deck were also moving back and forth and endangered the ship.
I understood their movement through the ship’s wheel, even though the darkness no longer allowed me to spot them. Meanwhile, the mechanic, Qazim Tymi, entered the engine room, checked it, and came out quickly. The waves had now risen so much that they came from above and entered the engine! Everything seemed to be controlled by the sea! It was 22:18 minutes when we saw a ship in the near distance ahead, which the waves lifted very high and sank! We looked each other in the eye, we weren’t talking…, and we didn’t want to show panic!
A dramatic situation…?
Indescribable! At 23:15, Sotir Pitaku came up to the wheelhouse and told me: – “Ismet, we are in danger of sinking!” At that moment, I quickly cut off radio communication among the crew so that panic would not spread. Sotiri was a very cultured and sensitive man, so I did not want the other crew members to hear him in these moments of distress. It was 01:05 on February 26 when we saw the second ship sinking, just like the first one. We couldn’t distinguish which country it belonged to either!
We felt very sorry that we could not go to help them because the sea gave no opportunity, even though we ourselves were in extreme danger! We heard the noise of Italian helicopters flying over us, we heard the pilot’s voice on the radio calling “rispondi Korabi!” But we could not answer because the radio transmitter was out of order; only the receiver was working. The Captaincy of the Port of Durrës had notified the Italian side about us, that we were in danger, but we had lost communication with both Durrës and Bari, due to the radio transmitter defect.
At this time, had you approached the port of Bari?
It seemed so to us, after all those hours of traveling in collision with the waves, so I tell the radio operator, Ganiu, that I was trying to steer the ship to a place where we would encounter sand to save the crew. But Captain Shehu caught my attention by telling me not to worry about the course, but to find calm for the ship and avoid the wave hitting its bow as much as possible. Thanks to this intervention, we were saved because I was making a mistake, as there were concrete docks nearby, and the ship’s collision would have been fatal for all of us. Captain Shehu said that area had rocks, not sand; he knew the sea well.
Although I was very tired, I quickly moved the wheel and turned the ship’s direction. At these moments, the waves covered the ship, and water entered the wheelhouse, as a result, the electric steering system lost its function. I tell Ganiu to quickly press the green button, which restored the mechanical steering system. And so we sailed until we entered the turn of the Bari port channel (bagaz). Fortunately, the electric steering system normalized, which facilitated steering. Captain Shehu asked me to steer the ship carefully through the channel to reach the port. But again at this moment, powerful waves displaced the ship towards the green lighthouse, which means danger of colliding with rocks.
I maneuvered quickly by turning the ship…! I heard Captain Shehu tell me to orient myself calmly, to avoid the rocks! We had reached the middle of the channel (port entrance) when the waves even reached over the port dock, but we were in the position where we had passed the danger of this wave, which could no longer displace us. Thus, we arrived at the port of Bari, dropped anchor, and the horror of that night was finally over. The clock showed 03:18. The boatswain (Nostromo) of the port of Bari shouted joyfully; “Viva Korabi, viva Albania”!
Zorka was the first to descend from the ship; we all followed her. I was not just tired, but utterly exhausted, as I had stayed at the helm for over 9 hours and 42 minutes, when one is not allowed to stay for more than 4 hours! I drank a double cognac, accompanied by a chocolate. I lay down and rested all day until 23:00. When I woke up, I found 10,000 lire under my pillow, which Zorka had left as a gift for me! Captain Haxhiu put a sailor on watch over me, in case of any shock.
Did your arrival in those extremely heavy sea conditions make an impression on the port of Bari?
It made a big impression in Italy! Although we were not allowed to communicate much, due to the political reasons of that time, they were surprised how the ship “Korabi” with 1500 tons had managed to withstand the waves and survive, while the morning of February 27, it was announced that 5 ships over 5000 tons had sunk, 2 of which, as I told you above, we had seen being swallowed by the waves.
It was a tragedy with these 5 ships because 96 people from their crews had drowned, 14 were injured, and only 3 sailors had managed to escape! The authorities of the port of Bari recalled that such a disturbance of the sea had been recorded 38 years earlier! That extremely painful event caused a lot of commotion at the time! I remember it as the darkest day of my life! On the 26th, the ship Tomorri sank, which also took the ship’s officer Ilir Koçilja with it, in Sarandë, near Hotel Turizmi.
And when you returned to Durrës, how were you received?
After four days in the port of Bari, we returned to Durrës. The state authorities of Durrës received us, congratulated us and praised us! This event resonated, but surprisingly, the press of the time did not give it the attention it deserved. In fact, some journalists came from Tirana and met us, but not much space was dedicated to it in the pages of the press; modest chronicles were published! On this occasion, I am also recalling an episode from those days.
In one meeting, the first officer Mihal Guma, speaking about the difficulties we had faced during the voyage to Bari, said that at one moment he had prayed with the words; “O Christ, forgive my life at sea and take my soul on land!” This created a confusing situation at that meeting, as we had been declared an atheist state! Those words were enough to remove him from the ship’s crew; he was no longer allowed to sail. The photograph you see was taken by Mynyr Bajraktari, who came at a difficult moment.
Do you remember all the members of the “Korabi” ship’s crew who experienced the terror of 43 years ago? (Note: the original text says 52 years ago at the beginning, but 43 years ago here)
Yes, they are not forgotten, as it is one of those events that remain in memory forever. I mentioned some of them during our conversation. They are: Haxhi Shehu, captain from Durrës, Mihal Guma, first officer from Himara, Mynyr Bajraktari, second officer from Shkodra, Faik Tafili, third officer from Durrës, Hajri Curri, fourth officer from Kavaja, Qamil Qazimllari, boatswain (nostromo) from Korçë, Muhamet Shehu, chief mechanic from Vlora, Ramadan Ramadani, first mechanic from Durrës, Qemal Beja, second mechanic from Durrës, Qazim Tymi, third mechanic from Shkodra.
As well as Hajrullah Xhixha, fourth mechanic from Tirana, Sulo Kapllani, motorist from Skrapar, Xhavid Karaboja, electromechanic from Durrës, Hekuran Çollaku, sailor from Durrës, Aleko Stavri, sailor from Tepelena, Sotir Pitaku, sailor from Durrës, another sailor from Durrës, with the surname Berberi, Rifat Harapi, cook from Durrës, Gani Daja, radio operator from Durrës, Filip Semini, sailor from Durrës, Met Kanapari, assistant cook from Durrës, Rifat Dervishi, cook from Durrës, and Zorka who was traveling with us to Italy. / Memorie.al
