少年派的奇幻漂流 Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Mr. Okamoto, in his letter to me, recalled the interrogation as having been "difficult and memorable¹." He remembered Piscine Molitor Patel as being "very thin, very tough, very bright."

His report, in its essential part, ran as follows:

Sole survivor² could shed no light on reasons for sinking of Tsimtsum. Ship appears to have sunk very quickly, which would indicate a major hull³ breach⁴. Important quantity of debris⁵ would support this theory. But precise reason of breach impossible to determine. No major weather disturbance⁶ reported that day in quadrant. Survivor's assessment⁷ of weather impressionistic and unreliable. At most, weather a contributing factor. Cause was perhaps internal to ship. Survivor believes he heard an explosion, hinting at a major engine problem, possibly the explosion of a boiler⁸, but this is speculation⁹. Ship twenty-nine years old (Erlandson and Skank Shipyards, Malmo, 1948), refitted in 1970. Stress of weather combined with structural¹⁰ fatigue¹¹ a possibility, but conjecture¹². No other ship mishap¹³ reported in area on that day, so ship-ship collision unlikely. Collision with debris a possibility, but unverifiable. Collision with a floating mine might explain explosion, but seems fanciful, besides highly unlikely as sinking started at stern, which in all likelihood would mean that hull breach was at stern too. Survivor cast doubts on fitness of crew but had nothing to say about officers. Oika Shipping¹⁴ Company claims all cargo¹⁵ absolutely licit and not aware of any officer or crew problems.

Cause of sinking impossible to determine from available evidence. Standard insurance claim procedure for Oika. No further action required. Recommend that case be closed.

As an aside, story of sole survivor, Mr. Piscine Molitor Patel, Indian citizen, is an astounding¹⁶ story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily¹⁷ difficult and tragic¹⁸ circumstances. In the experience of this investigator¹⁹, his story is unparalleled in the history of shipwrecks²⁰. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger.

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