Christmas Miracle Between The Years

Christmas Miracle Between The Years

Rev. Andreas Latz, Singapore

When the German shipping company Hapag Lloyd’s 368-metre-long container ship Al Jasrah was hit by a Houthi rebel missile in the Red Sea before Christmas on 15 December 2023, I was quickly asked by both the German Seamen’s Mission in Hamburg and Hapag Lloyd to look after the crew in the port of Singapore.

After Christmas, the Al Jasrah finally arrived in Pasir Panjang, Singapore’s largest container harbor. Many emails were sent to the captain beforehand. A children’s service group from the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer had written cards for the seafarers and prepared small Christmas presents.

The watchman greeted me by name, I was expected. A long conversation with the captain in the crew mess followed. Actually, it was relatively certain that a ship with the Arabic name Al Jasrah (meaning “the bridge”) would not be fired upon.

But on the bright day of 15 December, a rocket hit the cargo on the port side of the ship, setting containers on fire and the shock wave caused two containers to go overboard. The Polish captain is incredibly proud of his crew; everyone reacted extremely professionally in the situation and immediately worked through all the emergency protocols that had been prepared.

This allowed the fire caused by the rocket to be quickly extinguished in several containers. As the structure of the ship’s hull was not damaged, the ship’s command decided to resume the voyage at the maximum possible speed of 17 knots.

They passed the much smaller MSC Palatium III, which was engulfed in flames after being hit by three missiles, but was already close to receiving the necessary assistance from American naval boats.

It was probably only after a day had passed and they had reached safer waters that the expected shock set in for the crew members. Only now did they realize that they had escaped with their lives or a potential hostage-taking and piracy. The captain shared with me his great concern that he was probably obliged to sail through the Red Sea again on the way back, as the world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk, had just decided to resume using this dangerous route and Hapag-Lloyd had joined in.

I learnt that even if a ship is damaged or sinks in the Red Sea and the ship’s insurance is unlikely to pay out in such a case, it is still cheaper for the shipping companies to lose a ship than to take the long route via the Cape of Good Hope. We both just shook our heads at the brutality of the business. In the subsequent conversations with the Filipino crew, this existential fear was intensely expressed.

Back home, I thanked the captain warmly by e-mail for the opportunity of this three-hour visit and expressed the wish that, if he could, he would take the return journey to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. Only minutes later, I received an e-mail from the CEO of Hapag Lloyd saying that he could guarantee that all Hapag Lloyd ships would NOT be taking the route through the Red Sea for the time being. I was very relieved.

跨年的圣诞奇迹

当艾尔·贾斯拉号（Al Jasrah），一艘长达368米的集装箱船只，于今年圣诞节前12月15日，在红海遭到胡塞叛军的导弹袭击后，德国汉堡海员事工和该国赫伯羅特（Hapag Lloyd）船运公司即于第一时间邀請我到新加坡海港探访船上船员。

艾尔·贾斯拉号在圣诞节之后终于抵达新加坡，靠泊在巴西班让集装箱港口。在靠岸之前，船长收到了许多慰问电邮。隶属信义会救主堂的儿童事工组也为船员们准备了祝福卡片和圣诞小礼物。

在接到传呼后，我在休息室与船长进行了深入的长谈。根据一般情况，一艘拥有阿拉伯名称（“艾尔·贾斯拉”意为“桥梁”）的船只通常不太可能成为该区域武装袭击的对象。但在12月15日，这个天气明朗的日子里，一枚火箭却突然击中了船只左侧的货物，导致集装箱起火，强烈的冲击波使得两个集装箱坠入海中。这位波兰船长对他的船员感到极为自豪；面对这突如其来的危机，每位船员都展现了高度的专业素养，迅速并有序地执行了预先设计的所有紧急应对措施。这使得由火箭引起的火势能够在几个集装箱中迅速得到控制。鉴于船体结构完好无损，船舶指挥部便决定以最高速度——17节，继续航行。他们经过了舰型较小、且已经遭受三枚导弹击中后受火焰吞噬的MSC 帕拉蒂姆三号（Palatium III）。所幸的是，该船已接近获得美国军舰的必要援助。

在航行了一天并进入了更安全海域之后，船员们方才感受到了预期中应经历的震惊。他们真切地意识到，自己不仅逃过了一场生死劫难，还避免了遭到人质劫持和海盗袭击的不幸。船长向我透露了一个重大隐忧：在返航途中，他可能得重越红海。这是因为世界上最大的集装箱运输公司——马士基（Maersk）刚刚决定重新启用这条危机四伏的航线，而赫伯羅特船运公司也已随之加入。

我后来了解到，即使船只在红海遭受损坏或沉没，即便在这种情况下船舶保险无法提供赔偿，但对于航运公司而言，失去一艘船的代价仍然低于绕行好望角的长途航行费用。面对冷酷无情的商界现实，我们都深感震惊与无奈。在随后与菲律宾船员的交流中，我深切感受到了他们身置生死与存亡边缘的强烈恐惧。

回到家后，我通过电邮热切地向船长致谢，感谢他为我提供了这次长达三个小时的访问机会。我也对他传达了一个愿望：如果可能的话，希望他能选择通过好望角返回欧洲。几分钟后，我便收到了赫伯罗特船运公司首席执行官的电邮回复，他承诺该公司所有船只将暂时避开红海航线。对此，我甚感欣慰。

新加坡，安德烈亚斯·拉茨（Andrea Latz)牧师

A large cargo ship in a dock

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