'Najwa appeared demonic'
Taliep Petersen's daughter, Jawaahier, has given shocking evidence in her stepmom's trial.
SA farming is in trouble
Sluggish land reforms are paralysing farming sectors and new black farmers are apparently hardest hit.
Search News24
     South Africa : News Get News24 on your mobile Terms & conditions 
Homepage
South Africa
News
Politics
Aids Focus
Power Crisis
Africa
World
Sport
Entertainment
Sci-Tech
Finance
Health
Galleries
 
Zimbabwe
Power Crisis
US Elections
Aids Focus
More...
 
MyNews24
Columnists
Sports Columnists
Feedback
 
National Lottery
UK Lottery
Travel
Competitions
Horoscopes
TV Guides
Classifieds
Super 14 game
 
Sudoku
Scrabble
Wacky Words
Word Cube
Creepy Crossword
Golf Solitaire
Battleship
 
Stidy
Urban Trash
Treknet
 
Newsletters
Weather

Cape Town:
15-17°C

Durban:
18-27°C

Johannesburg:
6-20°C

Weather Page

Traffic
Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Eastern Cape Western Cape
All regions
Indicators
Rand/$ 7.6600
Rand/£ 15.0100
Rand/€ 11.9200
Gold/oz $887.40
Gold Mining 2517.02
+0.00%
All-share index 32136.15
+0.00%
 
Afrikaans
English

Freak wave 'totally unforeseen'
14/04/2008 12:51  - (SA)  

  • Cops ID Gansbaai victims
  • 'All I thought of was sharks'
  • Shark-boat capsizes: Three dead
  • Verashni Pillay

    Cape Town - The "freak" wave that capsized a shark diving boat on Sunday killing three tourists could not have been predicted, according to experts, despite the fact that the sea looked choppy to the untrained eye.

    National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the NSRI supported statements by White Shark Projects, the company which operated the boat, saying that the sea was flat.

    "To our understanding it was relatively calm conditions yesterday," he told News24 on Monday, adding that shark diving in those conditions was not unusual.

    'Sounds rough'

    "Two metre swells and 10-15 knot winds sounds like rough seas," said Lambinon, referring to the weather conditions before the accident. "But that doesn't mean it was rough."

    However eyewitnesses said the sea was choppy in contrast to statements from industry body, the Great White Shark Foundation, that the sea was "absolutely flat".

    Marili Esterhuyse who was on the boat at the time with her boyfriend, Cheetahs' centre Hendrik Meyer, said that the sea was "turbulent" when the boat set off from Kleinbaai near Gansbaai early on Sunday morning.

    An anonymous resident of Kleinbaai told Beeld that the sea was rougher than usual on the morning of the accident.

    However Lambinon pointed out that to the untrained eye the sea may have looked choppy but was in fact calm enough.

    "You've got to put it into perspective - how well does that person know the sea? What might be rough seas to one person might be calm seas to another."

    Meanwhile officials from the South African Maritime Safety Authority began their investigation into the accident on Monday morning.

    Police involved

    Gansbaai police too were investigating the exact circumstances surrounding the incident and three case dockets had been registered.

    The Great White Shark Foundation chairperson, Mariette Hopley, said the crew involved in the accident had been called together for interviews.

    "Regulations in our industry are extremely strict," she said. "There is nothing that we can jack up."

    While it is mandatory that each person on board a shark diving catamaran wears a life jacket, Hopley said the 19 passengers in the accident had all changed into their diving equipment and could not wear life jackets.

    Lambinon emphasised that there was no way to anticipate the "freak" wave that capsized the boat, causing the three tourists to drown.

    "There is no official term for something like this, it's just something that happens on the ocean," he said. "Every now and again you have a wave that picks up higher than normal for an unknown reason."

    "You have to be humble to the ocean, it's a place where the unknown happens."

     
     



    About us | Advertise | Contact us | Job opportunities | Press Releases | Site map

    Back to top
     Sponsored links
    Life Insurance
    Car Insurance
    UK Lottery
    First for Women
    Your Homeloan
    Bid or Buy
    Medical Aid
    Education
    SA TV online
    Car Rental
    Credit cards
    Personal Loans
    Best Car Deals
    Compare Quotes
    Life Insurance for Women