Stranded boat still stuck

2003-11-03 14:30

Port Elizabeth - Salvors on Wednesday failed to move a chokka boat that ran aground in Blue Horizon Bay on Tuesday.

Owner of the Thane, Guy Williams of Hout Bay, told News24 at 14:00 that efforts to float the boat at high tide about 12:00 had failed.

Efforts would continue during the next high tide in eight hours time.

Brian Colenutt of South Africa Marine Safety Association (Samsa) earlier said Smit Marine's tug Algoa is standing by to pull the 50-ton Thane off the sandbank.

Colenutt said a group of local fishermen on Tuesday tried to turn the boat that was lying about 200m from the shore. However, next high tide moved her closer inland, and she is now barely 25m from the shore.

Colenutt said despite having about 65% of her fuel load on board, the boat was still intact and there was no danger of spillage.

Two tons of unnecessary weight has been removed and the higher tide - about 300mm higher than Tuesday - should help the salvage operation.

Pitch darkness

The crew of the Hout Bay-based boat had to jump into rough seas in pitch darkness on Tuesday to enable rescuers to bring them to safety.

The NSRI, Port Elizabeth lifesavers and members of the Metro ambulance services combined forces to rescue the crew.

"We had to work under extremely difficult circumstances," said Ian Gray of the NSRI in Port Elizabeth.

He said he received an emergency call from PE harbour control at 00:15 on Tuesday informing him that the boat had run aground.

"The swell was in excess of two metres. The boat's lights were blinding us and a strong wind was blowing."

"Conditions deteriorated rapidly, and we decided to immediately remove the crew from the stricken boat."

But because of the rough seas, the lifesavers couldn't reach the boat. The crew had to jump overboard one by one so that they could be roped in and helped on board an inflatable rubber boat.

Skipper Rowan Dunbar was the last to leave the boat after switching off the engine.

The crew returned to Cape Town by bus later on Tuesday.

Wrong radar reading

Williams said the boat was about a kilometre from where the crew planned to catch chokka on Tuesday when it ran into trouble. The boat had offloaded in Port Elizabeth on Monday.

Williams said the crew were asleep when Dunbar, who was at the helm, felt the boat hit sand.

Dunbar had taken a wrong radar reading and did not realise the boat was so close to the beach, he said. - News24/Die Burger

- News24