Oceanos: Rescue off the Wild Coast | Sink or Swim | 3

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With all the lifeboats launched, the remaining passengers aboard the Oceanos cling to railings as the ship lists hard to one side. When helicopters arrive, the entertainment crew springs into action again—coordinating a high-stakes airlift as rescuers lower cables from the sky. But as dawn breaks, the ship edges ever closer to capsizing. Out at sea, mothers aboard lifeboats hand over their babies in buckets hoisted to the decks of towering cargo ships.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Against the Odds early and ad-free right now.
0:05.6	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.8	A listener note. Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events.
0:15.3	Some elements including dialogue may be invented, but everything is based on research.
0:28.4	Thank you. may be invented, but everything is based on research. Michael O'Mahoney stares into the dark horizon from the pool deck of the Oceanos,
0:33.7	his mind fixed on a vet and their two young children.
0:37.3	How long has it been since he watched them disappear into the storm?
0:41.3	Two hours? More?
0:43.8	An icy wind howls up from the south, stinging his face and making his eyes water.
0:49.5	He tries not to think about how easily their small exposed lifeboat could capsize in waves like these.
0:56.9	It's around 3.30 a.m. He's with his friend Neil Shaw, whose wife and daughter are also out
1:02.5	there somewhere. The ship is now listing at least 25 degrees starboard. Their feet slope down the
1:09.5	tilted deck, and they have to cling to the port side
1:12.3	railing just to stay upright. Michael keeps one hand on the railing while he passes Neil the bottle
1:18.2	of whiskey they snagged from the deserted bar. After their families were evacuated, the two of them
1:23.7	helped load the final lifeboats. They did everything they could.
1:28.3	And now, there's nothing left to do except wait and hope.
1:33.3	Suddenly, the ship takes a massive hit and lurches hard.
1:37.3	Michael whips his head around in time to see Neil go tumbling down the deck toward the pool,
1:43.3	now nearly drained from the ship's extreme tilt.
1:46.9	For a breathless second, Michael thinks he's going to fall in.
1:51.7	But at the last moment, Neil catches a railing
	...

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