Hermanus – Thursday 23 July 2015. False alarm good intention

SEA RESCUE – Hermanus – Thursday 23 July 2015. False alarm good intentionFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAt 17h45 NSRI Hermanus launched the 10 metre deep Sea Rescue boat South Star after a member of the public reported that a vessel between De Kelders and Gaansbaai seemed to be in difficulty.Deon Langenhoven, NSRI Hermanus station commander, said: “We launched South Star as a precaution because the report that we received suggested that a small vessel was having difficulty making its way to Gaansbaai harbour.”“ Because of the pending darkness we launched and made our way across the bay in a strong North Westerly wind and swell of 4 to 5 metres.”“ We quickly located the vessel, which turned out to be the Mary Ann, a 12 metre longliner. She had her lines down and was in no difficulty, but because of the rough seas it was easy to see why the person who reported the incident thought that she was in difficulty.”“ After confirming that the 10 crew onboard Mary Ann were safe we returned to base at 19h25 confident that this was a False Alarm with good intentions.”“We would much rather people call us sooner rather than later if they suspect that someone is in difficulty so that we can assess the situation,” said Deon.-ENDS- TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONESMS 32287 with your name and a message of support for our Sea Rescue crew