It is great to see people who you wouldn’t normally expect to be involved getting involved in the rescue of a cat and in this case this young cat had found refuge on the rudder mounting of a docked ship at the port of Illichivsk in the Ukraine.
The crew members of another ship nearby heard the frightened cat meowing. It is not clear whether the Ukrainian man who rescued the cat was on the dockside or whether he was on the ship. It doesn’t really matter because he put on what appears to be a dry suit to protect himself against the icy waters to then jump into the water and with some difficulty to grab the cat.
There was also a slightly difficult moment when the cat was transferred to the dockside where he was grabbed by another person who kept him warm under his coat
https://youtu.be/8YgwocSX5ds
The cries of the cat melted the hearts of these people, unsurprisingly. These were the meows of the genuinely terrified cat. I suspect the cat was particularly frightened because the water was so cold. It appears that the cat fell into the water and swam to the rudder for refuge. We hope that he or she is now safe and will be cared for, for the immediate and long-term future.
As a former sea-farer(Marine Engineer) myself its really great seeing this rescue act performed in cold waters.Any ships staff is normally very busy with ship work irrespective of rank and hence such length of trouble to rescue a stray cat is unbelievable.
Nice thought Eva.
Wow-what a story.I hope the cat becomes a ship mate.
Eva