14/09/2026
All four of us are fit, well and safe aboard the Hafnia Express, an oil tanker now heading for Cape Town. We’ll disembark on the 22nd.
When the rescue call went out, two vessels responded, and the Hafnia Express reached us first. Watching a 220 metre tanker come alongside a 10 metre rowing boat is not a small thing to see up close, but the crew handled it brilliantly. We climbed a very long ladder to get aboard, and have been made to feel completely welcome ever since. Cabins, our first freshwater showers in weeks and proper food. We’ve been properly looked after.
Huge thanks to the crew on board, and to and BW Group for getting to us and taking care of us.
I won’t pretend this feels like anything other than what it is. We didn’t make the other side, and that’s hard to sit with. We had to just focus on getting aboard safely, and now there’s time to feel it. But the support we’ve had, from everyone following along and messaging us, has meant more than you know.
Our focus now is trying to get the boat back. If anyone knows anyone who works in retrieval in that part of the Indian Ocean, please get in touch.
We collected the microplastics research samples, we did the schools project, we achieved a lot out there. It’s a strange one to take in that it comes down to a 12mm piece of stainless steel. But we’re safe, and that’s what matters.
Thank you, genuinely, from all of us. We’re not done talking yet, there’s more to come over the next few days, including a full crew video tomorrow.
