Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Getting things right
• Part 2 of 3: Working with others
• Part 3 of 3: Staying alive on the water
• Tips
• Warnings

While most people will never be shipwrecked, there is a slim chance for people traveling on water. In addition to the risk of death, if a ship sinks, there are many dangers that you can encounter after the actual sinking. Potential dangers include exposure to the elements, sharks, and more. But if you get things right, work with others, and take steps to facilitate your rescue, you have a good chance of surviving a shipwreck. You overcome this stressful ordeal with hard work and luck.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Getting things right

1. Stay calm. Staying calm is perhaps the most important thing in surviving a shipwreck. This is even more important in the first chaotic moments after a tragedy at sea. If you don't stay calm, you're more at risk.
   • If you find yourself panicking, tell yourself to relax and take a deep breath.
   • Think before you act. Do not run to the first rescue boat or jump into the water at the first sign of danger. Consider all your options.
2. Find something that floats. If the ship you are on is sinking, your first goal should be to find something that will float. Without a floating object, you probably won't survive long in the water. Floating objects include:
   • Life jackets
   • Solid lifeboats
   • Blown-on rafts
3. Jump off the ship if you are in danger. If you have to jump off a ship, make sure to keep your shoes on. Before you jump, look down to make sure you don't land on other people or objects. Put one arm on your stomach. Then grab the elbow on the other side. Use your other hand to keep your nose closed. Finally, jump as far as you can. Cross your legs as you fall and try to hit the water with your feet first.
4. Get away from the boat if it's big. Large ships sometimes create suction and take things with them as they sink. Therefore, the bigger the vessel, the more distance you have to keep as it sinks. This is important, because large ships can suck you down even if you wear a life jacket.
   • Use the breaststroke to swim away from the boat.
   • Kick powerfully with your legs away from you.
   • If you can't swim well, keep calm, tread water and paddle slowly away from the sinking ship.
5. Find something to help you stay afloat. If you don't have a life jacket, raft, or anything else to stay afloat, look around for anything you see that could keep you afloat, such as:
   • A door
   • Drifting pieces of the ship
   • Spare lifeboats or life jackets, which are not in use
6. Find out if you are injured. Once you are at a safe distance from the ship, you should take a quick look at yourself to see if you are injured or not. This is important as you may need immediate medical attention. Make sure:
   • You're bleeding. If so, and if the wound is severe, you may need to use a tourniquet to stop the blood loss. This is important because blood loss accelerates the rate at which hypothermia sets in.
   • You have a broken limb. A broken limb can seriously limit your ability to swim. If you break something, get immediate help from another survivor.

Part 2 of 3: Working with others

1. Help others. After you've checked yourself and found something to keep yourself afloat, see if you can assist other needy survivors. Other survivors may be in dire need and need immediate assistance.
   • Help others who may be in shock. Talk to them, tell them everything will be fine, and let them know you're there to help them.
   • Treat people with concussions.
2. Organize your group. Once you adjust to the new circumstances, you need to talk to everyone in your group and get things organized. Among the survivors in your group, there may be people with specific expertise, knowledge, or ideas about how to improve survival and rescue chances.
   • Stay together. The chances of survival and rescue are much higher if the group is organized and stays together.
3. Look for supplies. Once you and other survivors have found a way to stay afloat, start organizing and collecting supplies. In the end, the more supplies you have and the better you manage them, the longer you will be able to survive until you are rescued. Pay particular attention to:
   • Fresh water. Store as much water as possible and set a ration.
   • Food.
   • Flares and other things to get the attention of rescuers.

Part 3 of 3: Staying alive on the water

1. Prevent hypothermia. Besides drowning, hypothermia is the biggest threat to you as a shipwreck survivor. This is because exposure to cold water lowers your body temperature. If your body temperature gets too low, your body eventually shuts down and you die.
   • If you are in the water with a floating object rather than a raft, pull your knees towards your chest. This helps to retain your body heat.
   • If you are in the water or on a raft with others, stay close to each other and hold on to each other.
   • Keep your clothes on. Even though they are wet, they still help to maintain your body temperature.
2. Watch out for sharks. Besides hypothermia and drowning, the presence of sharks in open water is one of the greatest dangers. Sharks are especially dangerous around shipwrecks, as you are attracted by the blood of injured people and the fish that gather around floating objects on the surface.
   • Avoid splashing. This way you draw as little attention as possible to yourself and your group.
   • If there is someone with an open wound, do your best to stop the bleeding. Blood attracts sharks and fish from a great distance.
3. See if you see land. As soon as you are relatively safe and stable on the water, you should see if you can see land. With no land in sight, your chances of survival are diminishing every day as your supplies slowly diminish. There are many ways to find land:
   • Estimate your position based on the last known position. You can do this with a map, but also with the stars.
   • Look for signs of land, such as the presence of birds, driftwood, or debris. If you see birds, look in the direction they are coming from or flying towards.
   • See if you actually see land on the horizon. This can be quite difficult depending on the distance, but try it anyway.
4. Make drinking water. If you need water and you have a few basic supplies, you might be able to make some water. Take a plastic sheet and spread it out over your raft or boat. Use it to collect rainwater. In addition, if there is no rain, you may be able to collect condensation from it in the morning.
   • Never drink salt water. You dry out. Instead, make drinking water from salt water.
5. Signal to rescuers. Whether you are on a boat, floating in water, or on land, you should try to get the attention of rescuers as often as possible. Without a signal, rescuers will not know where you and other castaways are. Some ways to get attention are:
   • Shoot a flare. Depending on how many you have at your disposal, you may need to save it for the moment you actually see a ship or airplane in the distance.
   • A mirror. Use a mirror to reflect the sun in the direction of a possible rescue craft.
   • A fire. When on land, light a fire to get the attention of rescuers.
   • Build a signal or some other type of structure on the beach. For example, make the "SOS" sign out of a lot of coconuts or driftwood.

Tips

• If you cannot swim before boarding a ship, it might be a good idea to learn that.
• Very large ships, such as cruise ships, can take hours or even days to sink and, in order to be rescued quickly, it is best to stick with the ship unless the crew has advised you not to.
• Immediately, at the first indication of a shipwreck, put on a life jacket and try to be dressed in a long-sleeved vest and long pants to keep you as warm as possible.

Warnings

• If the inside of the ship fills up quickly, do not inflate your life jacket before you are outside. Otherwise you could float up and get stuck.