The commander of the motor vessel that risked sinking off the coast of Grado speaks: «A lot of water entered»

TRIESTE «I saw the bow peak full of water and a lot of water was coming in from the cleats». Visibly tense, tired but certainly relieved by the fact that everyone was rescued and brought to land, the commander of the Audace, Bruno Tessarihe explained as soon as he landed in Grado.

He was the last to abandon the Audace and go ashore at the Torpedo Boat Dock. It was 11.24am when she launched the mayday. There were about eighty people on board. The operations to get everyone onto the rafts took place frantically also because everyone had to wear life jackets. The cabin boy also said a few words as soon as he landed. “I was below deck and I saw the water coming in with the boat rising at the bow: I immediately went up to raise the alarm.”

The rescue operation lasted approximately 4 hours. Almost all the passengers, of various nationalities, were soaked at least from the knees down, many from the waist (Sogit made some clothes available). All with faces marked by tension, fear and from having been tossed by the sea. After boarding the rafts, they had to be transferred to Coast Guard vehicles. Not an easy move due to the rough sea. The tugboats began to “cover” the area a bit to facilitate the action.

The passengers were almost all Austrians but there were also Dutch and Czech citizens. Four Dutch people had embarked to go to Trieste and from there continue to Rovinj. “We also left the four bicycles on board,” says a woman who was among the least shaken of all. «What to do and where we will go today I don’t know yet. In the meantime, we await the arrival of our husbands”, who arrived with a second patrol boat.

Eight of these passengers were then welcomed at the Hotel Astoria. An eighteen-year-old boy from Salzburg (he is staying with his family who were with him at the Savoy) recounts the adventure with apparent calm but speaking quickly.

There was a large deployment of forces in Grado. In addition to the vehicles at sea deployed by the Port Authority (two patrol boats from Grado, three from Trieste, one from Lignano and one from Porto Nogaro), two helicopters and also the ATR42 of the Coast Guard arrived from Pescara. Also at sea were vehicles from the Guardia di Finanza and also a fishing boat as well as tugboats. The operation in Grado was coordinated by the commander of Circomare Domenico Castro.

The regional maritime director Luciano Del Prete coordinated the rescue: he underlined the fact that the rescue was immediate also because a Grado patrol boat was already at sea and a helicopter was flying over it. Where the landing took place, a Sogit tent was set up, there were about ten ambulances and the medical car with the 112 managers, the fire brigade, life protection vehicles and of course the Carabinieri and local police. Also present were Giuseppe Corbatto on his first day as mayor, who complimented the rescue efforts, and the representatives of Tpl Fvg and Apt who manage the service. And also the prefect, Raffaele Ricciardi: «Everything went well. The rescue system worked perfectly, everyone collaborated, even several citizens.”

An example was that of the owner of the Le Cube pizza restaurant who brought a nice pile of pizzas for everyone, shipwrecked survivors and rescuers.

And the Audace? The tugboats managed to keep her afloat and finally transport her to Porto Nogaro. The commander of the Port Authority of Monfalcone, Giuseppe Siragusa, explains that the magistrate placed it under seizure because there is the possibility of a negligent shipwreck.