Stranded boat deteriorating
2008-08-12 14:45
Verashni Pillay
Cape Town - There are fears that one of the fishing vessels that ran aground near Melkbosstrand may be seriously damaged before it is able to be salvaged next week.
Curious bystanders stood behind a cordoned-off area watching the Weskus 1 being battered by wave after wave on Tuesday.
Pieces of wood and debris were coming off the trawler, and a team from salvaging company, SMIT Amandla Marine, were on alert.
"We are concerned and we're checking on it daily," SMIT Amandla Marine spokesperson, Clare Gomes told News24. "Pieces of wood in the areas that are weaker have fallen off and they are collecting that debris."
She said the condition of the vessel, which has been stranded in the sea for 12 days, had definitely worsened. "It is a concern."
Ran aground
The two fishing trawlers, with a total of 20 crew members on board, ran aground in rough sea conditions in Derdesteen, south of Melkbosstrand, on the afternoon of Thursday 31 July.
Seawin Sapphirem, a sturdier boat made of metal, tried to assist the wooden Weskus 1, but ran aground after hitting a reef.
On Tuesday Seawin was firmly secured at the edge of the water while the 20m Weskus 1 titled to its side a few meters away, its maroon hull exposed and the deck tilting towards the sea.
Both the vessels belong to Indo-Atlantic Seafoods Limited. The company appointed SMIT Amandla Marine to drain harmful pollutants from the vessels and remove both from the beach.
While all fuel and chemicals were removed within three days of the incident, the company could only remove the vessels at the end of next week.
Gomes said that the process could not be rushed.
"They have to mobilise equipment and custom-make various pieces of equipment," she said. "It requires a large truck, a flatbed trailer, and so on."
The removal would take 24 hours, to move the heavy vessels from the edge of the water to the car park.
Sticking with the plan
"We're going to stick to the original plan - we can't speed it up," she said.
Officials from the nature reserve where the trawlers were stranded told News24 that the stranded boats posed no environmental danger.
"The only danger are nails sticking out of pieces of wood that have come loose, that's why we have cordoned off the area but no one wants to listen," he said, referring to the numerous bystanders watching the boats.
Security guards said the stranded vessels had become something of an attraction since their grounding, drawing crowds of curious onlookers.
- News24