The Plimsoll Mark is a mandatory line painted on the hull of vessels, indicating the legal and safe limit, beyond which the vessel should not be loaded. Us Maldivians with our famed sense of whimsy, call this the ‘barumarukaa’; – literally the ‘heaviness indicator’.
A salvage line has now been secured, temporarily halting the drift towards rocky shores. The time for quick action is now.
Our ship of state, for a considerable period of time, has been at sea, burdened far beyond the Plimsoll Mark. During most of this period we had been blessed with calm wind and following seas and were therefore able to navigate the ship of the state with relative safety. Until of late.
Today, we are in turbulent waters, with an injured keel and the hull taking water, drifting towards rocky shores.
Additional taxes will only increase the load and tension, further compromising the integrity of the economic engine, moving the needle beyond safe, stress indicators.
Navigators who had endured and those who had advised others to survive such storms have offered assistance and advice. However, our response has been to take on extra weight even as we sailed into the storm.
Witnessing the distress, salvage vessels hovering nearby have offered their tow to help us to safer waters. Maritime Law of Salvage of course entitles salvage parties commensurate value for their assistance.
The vessel can only be towed to safe harbor by jettisoning at least some of the cargo. Delaying the inevitable can only further injure the crew and the vessel.
