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Viceadmiral Juan Carlos TOLEDO Rescue in the Western Straights of Magellan of the LNG carrier COPERNICO by the submarine
SIMPSON She displaced 2,666 tons and was on her 323rd voyage full laden with liquefied methane gas destined for the North of Chile.The ships log showed the following entries: Watch 20:00 - 24:00
At 00:50 Captain Hugo Martinez ordered 100 fathoms of chain on deck. The echosounder did not register bottom. At 01:00 the Chief Engineer informed that the governor in the injector was broken. It had fallen into the into the sets of gears in the centrifugal pump distributing fuel to the main engine, breaking four teeth in the primary gear, and more teeth in the secondary gearing. The result was a total engine failure, impossible to repair aboard. With the ship drifting out of control onto the rocks lining the Straits of Magellan, Force 6 winds with squalls of gale force and wave heights of 3 – 5 meters; at 01:30 the Captain transmitted a call for help.The call was received by the Chilean submarine Simpson (ex USS Spot) a modernized Fleet class ship, which was returning from Antarctica and routine maneuvers South of Cape Horn. In command of Simpson was Commander Carlos Toledo de la Maza who approached LNG Carrier Copernico. A bit of maritime law is in order: no captain may risk the security of his own vessel to assist another; and there is the requirement to always rescue men who have abandoned ship. However rescue of seamen adrift - either aboard liferafts moving rapidly before the wind toward the rocks, or, immersed freezing and almost invisible - would have been impossible in low-visibility nighttime gale conditions, accompanied by the current in the Straights. In this situation Captain Toledo decided to do everything possible to tow Copernico, radioing to Captain Martinez to hang two towlines over the bow. He indicated that it was his attention to place two men on the stern of the submarine to retrieve the towlines. Captain Toledo decided to make another and last effort, given the danger to the submarine of close-in maneuvering in storm conditions, exacerbated by the risk of men out on the stern with waves washing over the deck. This time at 02:00, it worked. The lines were hooked and run to the forward bitt. The submarine began to tow Copernico into the wind and current, and toward the center of the Straits at 1.5 kts. The tow continued for the remainder of the night and into the improving conditions of the morning. At 10:00 Interoceangas Galileo hove into sight and the tow was passed over. The report of Captain Martinez to the Commander in Chief of the 3rd Naval Zone stated: “Simpson arrived to assist my ship in Paso Largo. She was without power due to an unrepairable mechanical failure in gale force winds at night and with current calculated at 1.4 kts drifting my vessel rapidly onto the coast, 500 meters distant.Without any doubt the actions of the Captain of the submarine Simpson saved my crew and vessel from grounding. The disastrous consequences of this grounding are easy to imagine considering both the type of vessel and that she was fully loaded with liquified gas. Given the training that we have received in our Naval Academy, the reaction of of the Captain of the Naval Vessel is normal, and as occurs in our profession, anonymous. Nevertheless it is my duty to emphasize that our situation created significant risk to another vessel providing us aid. The courage and professional competence of the Captain demonstrated his selflessness and great courage.” This unpublished story has been guarded in the Chilean Naval Archives. Captain Toledo, later went on to the rank of Vice Admiral and became President of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horners. This story of the incident is tendered at the request of Captain Roger Ghys.
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