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The NSRI has commended the three-member crew of a harbour service vessel following a dramatic incident eight nautical miles off-shore in Algoa Bay.
NSRI Gqeberha coxswain, Ian Gray, said their duty crew was activated on Thursday following a request for urgent assistance from a harbour service vessel reporting that their skipper was overboard and trapped in the wheel house that had been ripped off the vessel and flung into the sea.
He said a crewman on board the casualty vessel raised the alarm directly by phone to an NSRI Gqeberha coxswain, while the cargo ship motor vessel that they were servicing with re-supply at the time, contacted Gqeberha Port control.
Gray said it appeared that while transferring supplies from the service vessel, a crane lifting supplies onto cargo vessel caught on the wheel house of the service vessel in what appeared to be a “freak cause of unexpected chance”.
He said this caused the wheel house to be ripped off the service vessel with the skipper inside and landing in the sea.
According to Gray, in a subsequent statement, the two crew members saw the skipper popping up in the water but was being blown away from them.
However, what they didn’t know at the time, was that the 56-year-old skipper found himself trapped inside the sinking wheel house, and had to act quickly when he realised what was happening
“He had managed to open the cabin door under water to escape the sinking wheel house but wearing safety boots and jeans he was at risk of sinking under the weight of his gear,” Gray said.
He said the skipper managed to grab a hold of a life ring that had been attached to the wheel house and that had also popped to the surface as it sunk further.
Gray said through “quick thinking and commands communicated between the three men, the two crewmen were able to “put to anchor which swung the vessel around in the direction of their skipper (by the wind direction) and they were able to throw him a rope,” and pull him on board.
“They are both commended for saving their skippers life. The cargo motor vessel Captain initiated all engines to be stopped,” Gray said.
He added that when the NSRI and other emergency teams arrived on the scene, the skipper was safely on board his damaged vessel and in the good care of his crewmen who had initiated medical treatment for hypothermia and for shock.
“He admitted that he had only realised that the wheel house had been ripped off his vessel and flung into the sea when he found himself sinking under water inside the wheel house.”
Gray said the NSRI’S Sprit of Toft towed the casualty vessel back to port and despite the skipper’s ordeal he required no further medical treatment, adding that he and his “crew have respectfully requested not to be contacted by (the) media.”
The NSRI said role-players involved in Thursday’s drama included Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, the NSRI, EMS rescue paramedics, while Telkom Maritime Radio Services assisted with marine VHF radio communications.
