SA man 'led to ferry deaths'

2006-04-01 11:22

Erika Gibson, Pieter du Toit

Johannesburg - The efforts of an unknown South African who appealed to people on the top deck of an overloaded wooden ferry boat to get off to stop the craft's excessive rolling - could possibly have contributed to the fact that some of them were trapped shortly afterwards and died when the ferry capsized.

What should have been a festive occasion for the staff of Murray and Roberts on the ferry in the harbour of Manama (Bahrain), ended in tragedy when the boat capsized with at least 146 people on board.

By Friday afternoon 57 bodies had been retrieved from the water with a further 13 people still missing.

Murray and Roberts said in a short statement on Friday that four of its SA employees and the girlfriend of one of them died in the disaster while four other South Africans were safe and had been treated at a medical centre in Manama.

The boat owner, Isa Al Qobaisi, told journalists of the Gulf Daily News that the ferry could only carry about 100 people.

The ferry was chartered for the occasion on behalf of Murray and Roberts by an agent, Island Tours.

Captain refused to board

Al Qobaisi did not answer his cellphone on Friday and the ferry captain had been prohibited by the police to talk to the media.

Apart from the passengers, all the catering equipment such as fridges and stoves had also been loaded on the boat of 25.5m x 7m.

When the Indian captain saw the amount of equipment and the approximately 150 guests embarking, he refused to go out with the overloaded boat, Al Qobaisi said.

He allegedly told reporters that the "organisers" forced him to cast off.

Murray and Roberts refused to comment on Friday and said they would prefer to wait until the investigation was completed.

According to a South African in Manama - who prefers to remain anonymous - it appeared as if the people had their meal on the lower deck and about 30 of them then went ashore shortly after the dinner.

It was then that one of the South Africans saw that the ferry was rolling dangerously as most of the people on the top deck were concentrated on the one side of the deck, which increased the rolling movement.

The man then grabbed a microphone and shouted at them to leave the top deck and most of the people listened to him but by that time some of the fridges and other heavy equipment had rolled towards the railing and the ferry capsized.

The man apparently left the boat before this happened.

All the people on the lower deck were trapped under the hull while the few guests on the top deck survived the disaster, an officer of the Bahrain coast guard told the Gulf Daily News.

Apparently the water where the ferry capsized is about 12m deep.

It is said that there were enough survival jackets on board but the capsizing happened so quickly that people did not have opportunity to put their lifejackets on.

The ferry is about 10 years old, was renovated recently and is regularly chartered by companies and groups for sundowner trips or whale viewing.

Brian Bruce, group chief executive, said Murray and Roberts was doing everything in its power to support the families of the survivors and deceased.

Arrangements have been made for the transportation of bodies to South Africa after what has proved to be a sad day for his company, he said.

Murray and Roberts announced the names of their deceased South African employees late on Friday afternoon. They are:

Chris Braysher, 47, commercial manager

Jimmy Allen, 59, design-coordinator

Lawrence Sulman, 39, project engineer

Alan Jeppe, 51, engineering surveyor

Cathy Judd, South African girlfriend of one of the men whose name is not known

More than 50 senior employees of various companies working on the combined project of the World Trade Centre project died in the disaster.

- Beeld