On board the Mermaid Sapphire on the Solomon Sea, 100 miles from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
This is the last day of our 2,000-mile (3,219-kilometer) steam from Sydney, Australia, to Papua New Guinea. We’re five degrees south of the equator and heading northwest at 12 knots across a flat and windless ocean.
I’ve spent the past year thinking about the risks inherent in a complex expedition like this. On a working ship testing a new sub there are 50 ways to be hurt or worse.
This expedition is a master class in time and risk management. From sunup to midnight today, the 28-man sub team worked on and under the sub.
“Mariners call this a confused sea,” Captain Stu Buckle tells me.
An hour before sunrise, the Mermaid Sapphire had slipped out of her berth at the Australian Navy Yard and headed into the great open harbor. Forty minutes later we’re passing through the headlands into a dark-blue ocean with waves riding the crests of 6.6-foot (2-meter) swells.
“Abort the dive.”
When I heard these words as I entered the sub hanger, it was clear something was very wrong. “We just got word from the airport. The helicopter has gone down. Andrew and Mike were inside,” Jim said. He struggled for the next words.
