One of the UK's smallest radio stations is continuing to makes waves by attracting quality guests and highlighting local issues. Radio Scilly, run by Keri Jones, has broadcast an extended 25 minute interview with an islander who survived when his cruise ship collided with an iceberg in Antarctica.
Bob Flood was a tour guide aboard the MS Explorer which made global headlines last week. The ship has, ironically, visited Scilly as a cruise liner on a number of occasions. Bob returned to the Isles on Friday afternoon and he immediately agreed to the live interview with Keri Jones because “by telling Radio Scilly everyone on the islands will know what happened and I won’t have to go over it with everyone again and again”.
Bob’s moving account described the sequence of events from the chilling “abandon ship” message by the captain to the severe listing of the cruise liner and the fears of the passengers when the vessel was plunged into darkness while taking on water. As a tour guide, Bob was aware of the seriousness of the situation, made worst when the lifeboats had problem launching and then their engines failed to turn over. If they had hit an ice flow without engines, the passengers would have been crushed to death.
The entire interview is available on the Radio Scilly website and the audio has been given exclusively to Radio Scilly’s mainland content-partner, Atlantic FM.