Pi suddenly spots a ship and shouts, “Richard Parker, a ship!” Certain they are saved, Pi erupts with joy and thanks God in multiple names, imagining rescue, food, and even the possibility that Pi’s family might have survived and reached Canada ahead of him.

As the vessel approaches—an enormous oil tanker—Pi’s hope turns to horror when Pi realizes it is not heading toward them to rescue them but is instead bearing down to run them over. Richard Parker senses the threat and gives a powerful, tigerlike warning sound as Pi scrambles to react.

Pi chooses immediate action over signaling, shoving an oar into place and rowing frantically. The tanker’s bow wave lifts the lifeboat, and they slide off it, missing the ship by less than two feet while the tanker’s massive black hull passes like a towering wall without anyone noticing them.

Pi fires a rocket flare, but it strikes the ship’s side and ricochets into the Pacific, dying uselessly. Pi blows the whistle and screams, yet the tanker’s engines and churning propellers continue on, leaving Pi and Richard Parker bobbing in the ship’s frothy wake as the “salvation” disappears.

Within minutes the tanker shrinks to a speck. Pi’s gaze meets Richard Parker’s, and Pi feels the full pain of having barely missed rescue, while Richard Parker only registers stress and settles down again. Overwhelmed, Pi blurts out love for Richard Parker and admits Pi would die of hopelessness alone, then urges Richard Parker not to give up and promises to get him to land.