08 October 2019
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has confirmed an incident of the sinking of an offshore Luxembourg registered tug 1200 nautical miles of Martinique Island on which a South African seafarer was reportedly on-board.
In a media statement issued on Tuesday, SAMSA said the sinking of the vessel took place 60 nautical miles South-South East from the eye of a Category 4 hurricane storm named Lorenzo.
“SAMSA has received information that the tug, the Bourbon Rhode, sank on the 26th of September and that 14 crew members were declared missing. It has since been established that three (3) crew members had been rescued, four (4) bodies have been recovered and seven (7) were still missing. A search and rescue effort by the Regional Operational Centre of Surveillance and Rescue (Cross) Antilles-Guyane and other parties for the missing crew was currently underway.
“SAMSA has made contact with the owners of the sunken tug and is on standby to offer any support to the family of the missing seafarer. SAMSA continue to monitor the search and rescue efforts and to release information as and when it becomes available,” the agency said.
End.
Why is this tragic story accompanied by a picture of Table Bay Harbour?
Hello Mr Bower. In response to your question, the photo was chosen randomly as the closest depictive scene associated with seafaring – this in the absence of accident reflective photos closely related to the particular incident being reported. The only other reason a photo is always useful to published news articles is a purely editorial practice associated with the utility deriving from multimedia effects that blend elements for both easy understanding of the news content concerned and its context. That may look and sound like a long explanation but it pretty much sums up the various considerations that go into news information sharing. Your inquiry is most appreciated.