Kuwaiti Coastguard Rescues Abandoned Tourists on Failaka Island

A few days ago, Mark posted something about tourists being abandoned on Failaka Island, because the return trip ferries failed to show up. That was hard to believe, everyone knows that Failaka is: 1. completely isolated from the rest of Kuwait, 2. there’s no way on or off of it except with boats and ferries, 3. not equipped to handle an emergency group of any size at all, period.

The bizarre story went like this. The tourists boarded the ferries for a day trip to Failaka, and were supposed to come back to Kuwait by early afternoon. Sometime during the day, the M.O. Transport and the Public Transport Co. had a fight, and so the ministry decided to anchor the ferries. This is the part that I can’t believe. They decided to sort their problems out, while still having a group of people on the island? And since when does our government work on weekends, let alone during public holidays? No one cared about the cold, food, water, facilities, meds, anything? No one at all thought of their ordeal? Their needs, panics, their kids?

The local police came to their rescue and housed them like refugees in makeshift rooms, and tried their best to provide them with food and drinks and blankets. I doubt the police had enough of anything, the entire police station may very well consist of just a policemen and crew. They can’t possibly have supplies enough for 400 people just like that.

Finally, the coastguards sent their boats to carry the people back to Kuwait. I’m not sure what day they came back, but the last group was brought back by 4 a.m. That means that the people had to wait anything between 12-36 hours on the island. So sad and so embarrassing.

I can’t even begin to imagine what the tourists felt like, it ‘s just so awful and scary.

[Source].