A marine court of enquiry to be set up to establish cause of the sinking of a Cape Town fishing vessel, FV Lepanto, with deaths of 11 of its crew members: Dept of Transport

Pretoria: 14 November 2024

A marine court of enquiry is to be set up by the Department of Transport (DoT) to fully establish the cause/s of the sinking of a Cape Town based South African commercial vessel, the FV Lepanto, earlier in 2024 and whose demise cost the lives of 11 crew, while nine (9) others were successfully rescued; the ministry has announced.

The launch of the enquiry, according to DoT national spokesman, Mr Colleen Msibi in a statement on Wednesday, follow a submission of a draft preliminary enquiry report by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to Transport Minister, Ms Barbara Creecy, and deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa this past weekend.

The SAMSA draft report is scheduled to be finalised and released before the end of 2024, said Mr Msibi.

Mr Msibi said: “The Minister of Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy and the Deputy Minister, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa have on Sunday the 10th of November 2024 received a notification from the South African Maritime Authority (SAMSA) indicating that a draft report regarding the tragic sinking of the Fishing Vessel Lepanto, has been completed. The tragic accident happened on 17 May 2024, where eleven lives perished at sea.

“The Minister and Deputy Minister have requested (the) SAMSA board to urgently finalize the report with its legal team. They have also instructed the Department to begin a process of establishing a Marine Court of Enquiry to further pursue an investigation and bring the report to finality.

“Creecy and Hlengwa have expressed their strong desire to release the final preliminary report before the end of the year,” said Mr Msibi.

The sinking in May 2024 of the 38,6-meters long, 63 years old FV Lepanto, resulting in the tragic loss of lives of 11 crew believed to have remained trapped onboard – the vessel reportedly sank rapidly, within about five (5) minutes after a sudden heavy listing – was one of a handful of sea incidents involving commercial fishing vessels during the year and from which approximately 70 crew members in total were successfully rescued and evacuated.

The incidents included a sister commercial vessel to the FV Lepanto, the FV Armana which reportedly had been the first responder to issue a mayday call, as well as rescue and evacuate the nine (9) surviving crew members of the FV Lepanto on 17 May 2024.

Incidentally, five months later, the FV Armana reportedly also caught fire and sank in October 2024 while out at sea in a location some 60 nautical miles offshore from Gansbaai on the Atlantic Ocean. All its 20 crew members on board were successfully rescued and evacuated back to Cape Town.

The two sister commercial fishing vessels’ incidents were interspersed by two others, the grounding of the FV Elke M in January, near St Francis Bay on the Eastern Cape coast (Indian Ocean), and the sinking of the FV Oceana Amethyst approximately 20 nautical miles west north- west of Slangkoppunt on the Altantic Ocean in the Western Cape.

All crew on board both vessels (FV Elke M = 22 and FV Oceana Amethyst = 20) were successfully rescued and evacuated.

End.

UPDATE: Seafarers on board stricken Taiwanese fishing vessel successfully rescued. SAMSA

Pretoria: 13 September 2023

All 16 crew of a Taiwanese fishing vessel that sank in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday were successfully rescued overnight (South African time), with none reported to have suffered an injury, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) reported on Wednesday.

According to the SAMSA Centre for Sea Watch and Response based Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town, the successful rescue of the crew occured at approximately 02h30 on Wednesday, with assistance of several vessels that responded to distress and assistance request calls broadcast on Tuesday.

The rescue mission got underway on Tuesday after the Taiwanese fishing vessel DER HAE NO 66 crew sent out a MAYDAY call reporting that the vessel was taking in water to a point that it had to abandon it, in an area at sea some 598 kilometers off the coast of Durban in the Indian Ocean.

According to the MRCC, several ships in the vicinity were immediately called upon to render assistance, and they did so successfully.

The Centre for Sea Watch & Response reported on Wednesday morning: “MRCC Cape Town is glad to report that all of the 16 crew from the fishing vessel (FV) DER HAE NO 66 were rescued.

“The bulk carrier GOLDEN EARL arrived at the scene where the DER HAE NO 66 sank after being abandoned by the Taiwanese and Filipino crew. Unfortunately, the GOLDEN EARL could not recover the survivors from the life raft due to the prevailing swell of 4.0 meters.

“MRCC Cape Town then requested the GOLDEN EARL to remain on-scene, and with the drifting life raft until the fishing vessels JAIN LIH NO 212 and DER HAE NO 6 arrives.

“MRCC released the other vessels, liquid natural gass carrier LOBITA and crude oil tanker RED NOVA EARL to continue with normal voyage.

“The on-scene coordinator, GOLEN EARL reported by 2am on 13 September 2023 that the two Taiwanese fishing vessels had arrived by, and the JAIN LIH NO 212 recovered the 16 crew. No injuries were reported to MRCC Cape Town. The GOLDEN EARL was also released to continue with normal voyage. The on-scene coordinator reported that both fishing vessels shall continue with fishing operations.

“MRCC Cape Town appreciates the efforts of all vessels involved, and the assistance provided by RCC Taipei and Telkom Maritime Radio.”

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Salvage operation underway to retrieve stricken SA fishing vessel off the ocean south of Cape Town: SAMSA

Pretoria: 14 April 2023

A salvage operation at sea south of Cape Town has begun on Friday to recover a stricken fishing vessel that caught on fire, leading to its crew of 26 fishermen abandoning it in the early hours of the day, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) reported.

SAMSA said the 26 crewmen were safely brought onto dryland early on Friday following a frantic effort involving no less than three ships which had responded to a mayday call by the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre based in Cape Town.

According to the SAMSA Centre for Sea Watch & Response based MRCC; “MRCC Cape Town was informed by Telkom Maritime Radio at 01:00 of the FV requiring immediate assistance due to fire in the engine room. The 26 crew then abandoned ship to life raft sighting the whole fishing vessel to be ablaze,” said the MRCC.

_{A computer generated image of the approximate area in which the SA fishing vessel, FV OLIVIA MARIE was located when it reportedly caught on fire on Friday morning. All 26 crew on board were safely evacuated.}

It added that: “A MAYDAY Relay was issued through Telkom Maritime Radio wherein vessels were requested to render immediate assistance. NSRI Stations Hout Bay and Simon’s Town were activated. The MV AQUA EXPLORE, a Bulk Carrier, and FV UMFONDINI diverted to assist. The AQUA EXPLORE, not being able to recover the survivors from the life raft, remained on-scene until the UMFONDINI arrived.

“All crew were safety transferred to the UMFONDINI with the prevailing winds reported to be South-westerly at 15 knots and a water swell of up to 2.6 metres. The AQUA EXPLORE proceeded with normal voyage.

“FV UMFONDINI was intercepted by NSRI Stations Hout Bay and Simon’s Town after which the OLIVIA MARIE crew were transferred to the NSRI Simon’s Town craft. The survivors were safely delivered to Simon’s Town and transported back to their home base at Hout Bay.

“Efforts from MV AQUA EXPLORE, FV UMFONDINI, NSRI, and Telkom Maritime Radio supported MRCC Cape Town in the successful outcome of this maritime SAR incident.

“A Navigation Warning was issued, requesting vessels to report sightings of the OLIVIA MARIE and the life raft, this being in an effort not only to warn of the possible navigation hazards, but also to assist in the recovery of these craft,” said the MRCC.

Late on Friday, SAMSA said the vessel had since been sighted by another ship, the F/V Langenberg at a point where it was some 3.5 nautical miles from the abandoned fishing vessel, in an approximate position 34 11.8 S018 19.8 E from the Coast South of Scarborough.

“The F/V Langenberg is about 3.5 nautical miles from the abandoned vessel and spotted some debris but not a lot, no smoke on the vessel. Visibility is clear. SW wind force 5 of the current Is pushing Olivia Marie to the shallow waters.”

Efforts will continue to recover the abandoned vessel.

End

Taiwanese crewmen rescued from stricken vessel off South African ocean

Pretoria: 07 May 2019

Quick action and a well coordinated response by the South African Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) saw about 16 crewmen of a Taiwanese vessel rescued successfully from the stricken vessel off the Indian Ocean on Tuesday morning.

The MRCC also confirmed that the vessel that first experienced difficulties sailing had soon caught fire and was slowly sinking, some 1100 nautical miles south east of Durban.

The dramatic rescue of sailors off the vessel, the Teng Ming Yang#268, according to the MRCC, ensued from about 6.45am (South African Time) after the centre picked up a distress signal from the vessel indicating a need for assistance.

“At 06h45 local time MRCC Cape Town was alerted via the COSPAS SARSAT system (EPIRB detection) of the Taiwanese fishing vessel Teng Ming Yang #268 possibly needing assistance.

“The distress position as per the detection placed the vessel more than 1100 kilometres South East of Durban within the South African Search and Rescue region. MRCC Cape Town Duty Team immediately contacted the Taipei Rescue Coordination Centre to obtain additional details. The satellite AIS system was used to identify any vessels near the casualty position that may be called upon to assist.

“Taipei RCC stated that the vessel had reported a fire onboard and the 16 crew were going to abandon the vessel to life rafts. A MAYDAY relay broadcast was issued by Telkom Maritime Radio for vessels in the area to assist.

“The vessel Mearsk Lanco (approximately 500 kilometres away) immediately responded to the MAYDAY broadcast but was thanked for the response and stood down by the MRCC as a sister vessel to the Teng Ming Yang #268 was already diverting and a second vessel was also on route.

“Constant monitoring of the AIS system indicated that the sister vessel arrived in the area just after 0900 local time. This was confirmed by Taipei RCC minutes later when they reported that Teng Ming Yang #888 reported that it had rescued the 16 crew from the life raft. The vessel was reportedly still burning and sinking slowly. A Navigational warning has been issued.

“SAR systems and RCC cooperation has yet again proven its value,” said the centre in a statement.

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Rescued crew of stricken Greek ship in the Atlantic Ocean on their way to Cape Town

antaios — Stricken Greek bulk carrier, the Antaios. It’s rescued crew currently on their way to Cape Town..

Pretoria: 05 December 2016

The entire crew of a bulk carrier that sent a distress call after reportedly suffering engine fire damage off the Atlantic Ocean has been rescued and is currently on its way to Cape Town, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) reported in Pretoria on Monday.

The 19 crew were plucked off the stricken Greek bulk carrier ANTAIOS by an ore carrier, the NSU INSPIRE – and now currently on their way to Cape Town Harbour – after their vessel reportedly experienced a fire and flooding in the engine room while sailing from Argentina to Saudi Arabia.

In a statement on Monday, SAMSA said its Centre for Sea Watch and Response based in Cape Town had received a satellite phone call from the NSU INSPIRE – a 330 meter Japanese ore carrier – reporting a distress call from the ANTAIOS.

nsu-inspire-2 “The 170 meter ANTAIOS had reportedly experienced a fire in the engine room while sailing from Argentina en route to Saudi Arabia loaded with grain. The fire caused some damage which led to flooding in the engine room. When the flooding became uncontrollable, the captain decided to make a distress call and order the crew to abandon ship,” said SAMSA.

SAMSA reports that the dramatic incident apparently occurred in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, in an area some 860 nautical miles west of Cape Town and an area the maritime authority said was well outside of the striking distance of shore-based rescue facilities.

map-coordinates-stricken-greek-vessel — Circled in red on the left end of the map is the area on the Atlantic Ocean at which crew of a stricken Greek vessel, the ANTAIOS were rescued on Sunday, according to the South Africa Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) on Monday

“The mayday call was picked by the NSU INSPIRE which was sailing from Brazil to Singapore and China. The captain of the NSU INSPIRE immediately informed the SAMSA CSWR and proceeded to the rescue. In the meantime, CSWR immediately initiated a mayday relay broadcast requesting vessels in the vicinity to proceed to the stricken vessel and render assistance.

“The response to the broadcast was immediate and a total of 24 merchant ships called SAMSA’s CSWR offering their assistance, some were as close as 80 miles from the scene and others as far off as 600 miles.

“Six ships closest to the stricken ANTAIOS were diverted by the MRCC to the position in case the NSU INSPIRE needed help in rescuing the crew.

“Happily, by 20h39 MRCC was informed by the captain of the NSU INSPIRE that his ship had arrived on-scene and had commenced recovering the ANTAIOS crew from the two lifeboats they had escaped to. All 19 crew members were plucked to safety on board the giant 330 meter ore carrier and are currently on the way to be dropped off in Cape Town from where they will be repatriated,” SAMSA said.

SAMSA also confirmed that a local shipping agency had since been appointed by the stricken vessel owners to take care of the crew once they arrive in Cape Town. The crew is expected in Cape Town and about midnight on Monday.

End