CAPE TOWN:
Pat van Eyssen, NSRI Table Bay station commander, said: “At 05h22, Friday, 07th March, NSRI Table Bay volunteer rescue crew were activated following a request for assistance from the 12 meter yacht AFRICAN RENAISSANCE, with 3 crew onboard, 2 males and a female, sailing from Mykonos to Cape Town, suffering mechanical motor failure and requiring assistance to get into Port.
“Our NSRI Table Bay volunteer sea rescue duty crew launched our sea rescue craft SPIRIT OF VODACOM and rendezvoused with the yacht 200 meters off the Port of Table Bay breakwater. A towline was rigged and we towed the yacht to safe berthing at the Royal Cape Yacht Club without incident.
“The skipper of AFRICAN RENAISSANCE, Wayne Badenhorst, from Cape Town, confirmed that they had run into motor mechanical failure off-shore of Yzerfontein and continued under sail to Cape Town where they requested assistance from the Transnet National Ports Authority and NSRI Table Bay was activated to assist to tow them into Port.”
CLIFTON:
On Saturday, 08th March, at 13h34, NSRI Bakoven responded the sea rescue craft ROTARIAN SCHIPPER at the request of the Transnet National Ports Authority to assist a motor cruise boat at anchor in Clifton with 4 passengers onboard suffering motion sickness.
While NSRI Bakoven were responding to the scene Clifton Surf Lifeguards, made aware of the situation, launched their surf rescue rubber duck to assist and Community Medics volunteer paramedics also responded to the scene from Camps Bay.
On arrival at the motor cruise boat, Clifton Surf Lifeguards first removed two females, both suffering motion sickness, from the casualty boat and brought them safely to shore aboard the Clifton Surf Lifesaving surf rescue rubber duck and on the arrival of the NSRI Bakoven sea rescue craft it was recommended that the Clifton Surf Lifesaving rescue rubber duck continue with the operation and also remove the remaining two casualties from the casualty boat, a male and a female, who were both also suffering motion sickness, and both were brought ashore aboard the Clifton Surf Lifesaving surf rescue rubber duck.
On the beach, at Clifton 4th Beach, the Community Medics paramedics medically checked all of the patients, all adults, and all were in satisfactory conditions once on terra firma, and all recovered from their motion sickness and they required no further assistance.
PORT EDWARD:
NSRI Port Edward, on Saturday, 08th March, at approximately 14h30, received a barely coherent call from a man requesting urgent help but no indication of where, or for what, help was needed could be obtained from the caller.
The NSRI Port Edward duty coxswain, faced with a lack of information, continued to urge the caller to give a location and a description of where help was needed and for what and eventually managed to glean that help was needed at Silver Beach.
Still uncertain for what help was needed and suspecting, from the tone of the caller, that a major incident was occurring NSRI Port Edward activated a full emergency response to Silver Beach and the NSRI Port Edward volunteer sea rescue duty crew responded and including the activation of the SA Police Services and Netcare 911 ambulance service.
On arrival at Silver Beach it was determined that the uBunthu lifeguards had earlier attended to an adult male drowning victim and the lifeguards had recovered the body of the man from the surf deceased.
NSRI Port Edward duty crew were then met by an emotional crowd (believed to be friends of the deceased man).
NSRI express sincere condolences to family and friends of the deceased man.
The body of the deceased man was attended to by Police and the body of the deceased man was handed into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services.
Police have opened an inquest docket into the drowning accident.
NSRI are urging members of the public who call in an emergency in progress, to clearly state the location of the emergency and a description of the emergency in order to facilitate a coordinated emergency response.
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