Pretoria: 18 March 2019

A vessel upon which fire broke out at the port of Port Elizabeth on Sunday will remain berthed until an investigation into the cause of the fire has been completed, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) confirmed on Monday.

According to SAMSA, the investigation which is already underway follows the breakout of a fire on board the Motor Fishing Vessel Lubbetje, some time on Sunday morning while it was docked at the port of Port Elizabeth.

The fire was successfully put out within hours and, according to SAMSA, only one person sustained minor injuries.

SAMSA Principal Officer (for the Port Elizabeth office), Capt. Neville Noble said on Monday: “I can confirm that SAMSA started an investigation into the fire onboard the Lubbetje yesterday. The fire was extinguished and the vessel is currently not in danger of sinking, but was prohibited from sailing pending further investigation. Received reports indicate that there was only minor injuries.”

According to Capt. Noble, the investigation is being prioritised and it is expected that it will completed soon.

The vessel is a 377 GT (34.87m) local fishing vessel owned by Premier Fishing.

The incident is reported to have not caused any disruption in shipping traffic through port of Port Elizabeth harbour.

There may be updates to this report.

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