flstandardbreds Chapter 1009
Chapter 1009
He gritted his teeth and kept fine-tuning the joystick with both hands, trying to align the bow of the boat with the waves and reduce the impact.
Finally, with the continued bumps and roars, the power of the water wall gradually weakened.
The sea finally calmed down a bit, but the cruise ship was badly damaged.
The railing on one side of the hull was swept away by huge waves, and the deck was covered with twisted metal and broken ropes.
Several hatches were squeezed and deformed by the water pressure, making a teeth-grinding creaking sound.
In the cockpit, Qi Mingyu and Zhou Jianghai both slumped in their chairs, gasping for breath.
The dashboard was covered in cracks and red warning lights were flashing.
Qi Mingyu looked over and saw that the hull was damaged in many places, the communication system was out of order, and even worse - the drainage system was damaged and seawater was flowing back.
His expression instantly turned serious: "Dad, we need to start the emergency drainage pump immediately! Close the valve of the flooded compartment!"
He lit it on the dashboard very quickly, but the drain pump had limited power and the water was taking in too quickly.
"I'll go to the lower cabin to drain the water manually!" Qi Mingyu no longer hesitated, grabbed the toolbox, turned around and rushed out of the cockpit.
"Be careful!" Zhou Jianghai warned.
Just now, Mumu fell into the sea when he went to repair it...
Zhou Jianghai closed his eyes and his heart trembled.
But then he opened his eyes and looked at the dashboard more intently.
Now he is the only one among them who can sit here and check the surrounding situation, so he must be more careful!
They can't afford any more accidents or oversights...
Qi Mingyu nodded solemnly.
In the corridor, the sea water was already above the knees.
The boat was still heaving violently.
He stumbled all the way to the lower cabin and found that the situation was worse than he had expected.
The drain was clogged with floating debris and the water level was rising rapidly.
The lights in the lower cabin flickered, and the sea water had already reached Qi Mingyu's knees.
The cold sea water mixed with oil splashed all over his face, but he didn't bother to wipe it off and his hands were operating quickly.
He must speed up, otherwise the boat will sink into the sea!
The wrench in his hand turned rapidly, prying open the drainage grilles one by one.
The clogged debris is shocking.
Broken ropes, broken wooden boxes, and various unidentified debris intertwined together, blocking the drain tightly.
Qi Mingyu used all his strength to clear these obstacles, and sea water immediately gushed out and the water level began to slowly drop.
He had no time to rest and continued to move to the next drain.
Wherever he went, he cleared the blockage as quickly as possible and checked whether the valves were intact.
Suddenly, a valve got stuck and wouldn't close completely.
Qi Mingyu quickly took out spare parts from the toolbox, loosened the valve with a wrench, and then carefully adjusted it with a screwdriver.
After several minutes of intense operation, the valve was finally completely closed, and the speed of seawater backflow was significantly slowed down.
Qi Mingyu wiped the sea water and sweat off his face and continued to clean the last drain.
Fifteen minutes later, the water level in the lower compartment finally stabilized.
Qi Mingyu half leaned against the slippery wall, breathing slightly heavily.
His hands were white and wrinkled from being soaked in the sea water, and the wounds on his knuckles were still bleeding, but he knew that the ship was safe for the time being.
He looked up and saw the lounge area of the cruise ship.
I don’t know how Mom and Wanwan are doing after such a violent collision and rollover just now!
However, he now had to quickly check for other damage to the ship.
He clenched his still numb fists and strode up the stairs.
Only after returning to the upper deck did Qi Mingyu truly feel how serious the tilt of the ship was.
The sea water in the corridor stopped flowing, but all gathered on the left side, forming a clear waterline.
Although the emergency light on the wall was still on, the light was projected obliquely onto the floor, making the entire space look distorted.
Although the hull's tilt angle has improved, it is still nearly ten degrees more tilted than normal.
This angle may not be a big deal under normal circumstances, but for an already damaged cruise ship, it is not good news.
Qi Mingyu walked quickly towards the cockpit. When he passed the lounge, he stopped and gently pushed the door.
Zhong Tiyun was sitting beside the bed, holding the sleeping Zhou Shuwan in her arms.
Seeing Qi Mingyu, she immediately stood up nervously: "Xiao Yu, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Qi Mingyu waved his hand and looked at Zhou Shuwan: "How is Wanwan? Mom, are you okay?"
Zhong Tiyun said hurriedly: "The fever has subsided a little, but he hasn't woken up yet. Mu Mu..."
She quickly closed her mouth again.
Qi Mingyu's expression was filled with a trace of regret, but his tone was firm: "Don't worry, Mom, there hasn't been another water wall in the past ten minutes. It seems that we may have survived the crisis. So we can turn around and look for Mu Mu immediately!"
Zhong Tiyun nodded repeatedly with tears in her eyes: "That's great, that's great..."
"Mom, you and Wanwan stay here, try to stay close to the center of the ship." Qi Mingyu reminded: "The ship is tilted a bit, try not to get close to the sides."
Zhong Tiyun nodded, her eyes full of worry: "You have to be careful too."
In the cockpit, Zhou Jianghai was observing the sea intently.
Seeing Qi Mingyu come in, he immediately asked, "How's the drainage situation?"
"It's stable for now," Qi Mingyu replied briefly, his eyes scanning the dashboard. "But the ship is tilting nearly ten degrees."
Zhou Jianghai sighed, "I noticed that, too. This is because the ingress of water has caused the weight of the hull to be unbalanced, and the right side of the structure has been damaged. What consequences will this tilt cause?"
Qi Mingyu frowned. "The most immediate problem is unstable navigation. In this state, if we encounter big waves again, the boat will easily capsize. Moreover, the tilt will affect the efficiency of the remaining drainage system and may even cause the repaired drain to become clogged again."
After hearing this, Zhou Jianghai was silent for a moment, then turned and looked out the window.
There is no wall of water forming in the sea as far as the eye can see in the distance!
"Dad, let's turn the boat around and go look for Mu Mu!"
"it is good!"
Qi Mingyu took a deep breath and adjusted his course.
At the same time, in a place they could not see, the impact of the ship's tilt was quietly intensifying.
In the lower cabin, some equipment that had not yet been completely fixed began to slide slowly, threatening the already fragile hull structure.
On the deck, although the water on the left side was no longer increasing, the force on the right side was increasing, and the metal frame made a worrying "creaking" sound.
Although it is daytime, the sun never sets.
But because of the several violent water walls just now, fog gradually filled the sea.
Although the fog was not heavy, it greatly increased the difficulty of their search for people!
Especially on rough seas, the possibility of seeing objects on the blue-black sea surface with the naked eye is very small.