St Francis Bay, Durban, Table Bay, West Coast and Kommetjie:

ST FRANCIS BAY:Sarah Smith, NSRI St Francis Bay station commander, said:At 07h09, Monday, 18th December, NSRI St Francis Bay duty crew were activated following a request for assistance from the Chokka fishing vessel Santo Mersck reporting a crew member onboard suffering a suspected Stroke (CVA - Cerebro Vascular Accident).The sea rescue craft Spirit of St francis II was launched and we rendezvoused with the casualty half a nautical mile outside the Port of st francis.A 46 year old Port Elizabeth fisherman was transferred onto our sea rescue craft into the care of NSRI medics and the patient was brought into the Port and in a stable condition he has been transported to hospital by Private care ambulance services.Then later the same morning we launched Spirit of St Francis II to assist a man on a jet-ski at Granny's Pool where the jet-ski took on water and semi-submerged under water with the adult male who had been in the water for around 15 minutes.A private boat, known to the jet-skier, took the jet-ski under tow with the casualty onboard the private craft, and we escorted them to Port where after we checked the jet-skier and found him to be fine and not injured no further assistance was required.DURBAN: Clifford Ireland, NSRI Durban station commander, said:At 22h15, on Sunday evening, 17th December, NSRI Durban duty crew were placed on alert after a red distress flare was sighted near to the Bluff.Police and Fire services were asked to keep a look out and our investigations revealed no signs of anyone in any distress and the flare is believed to have been fired from land.We urge the public not to set off red distress flares unless in a life threatening emergency.TABLE BAY:Quentin Botha, NSRI Table Bay station commander, said:During the afternoon of Monday, 18th December, NSRI sea rescue stations along the Atlantic Seaboard - NSRI Kommetjie, Hout Bay, Bakoven, Table Bay and NSRI ASR (Airborne Sea Rescue) were placed on voluntary alert while NSRI monitored the progress of the yacht Day Off heading to Cape Town from Hermanus with 2 crew onboard and under sail and reporting to be comfortable and making good headway but with no motor power and an anchor that the skipper felt would not be sufficient considering the strong winds.Telkom Maritime Radio Services and the TNPA (Transnet National Ports Authority) were placed on alert.The skipper of Day Off had made an arrangement with a friend to tow him into the Port of Table Bay on his arrival later that night but in the strong winds the decision was taken for our NSRI Table Bay duty crew to launch the sea rescue craft Spirit of Vodacom to tow Day Off into Port just after 23h00.We met up with the yacht off-shore of Sea Point and towed him into Port without incident where RCYC (Royal Cape Yacht Club) and Port authorities had made arrangements to put the yacht at a berth at Quay 6 overnight.Once safely berthed no further assistance was required and with the yacht now at her home Port the owner will carry out repairs.WEST COAST:Marius Hayes, NSRI ASR (Airborne Sea Rescue) station commander, said:At 15h06, Monday, 18th December, the SA Air Force (SAAF) 22 Squadron, WC Government Health EMS and NSRI ASR were activated to patient evacuate a 36 year old Chinese crewman suffering an injured hand on the 292 meter bulk carrier Great Sui at anchor off-shore of Veldrift on the West Coast.At 16h00 a SAAF 22 Squadron Oryx helicopter accompanied by an EMS rescue paramedic and 2 NSRI ASR rescue swimmers departed Air Force Base Ysterplaat (AFB Ysterplaat).NSRI Melkbosstrand, Yzerfontein and Mykonos were placed on alert and Telkom Maritime Radio Services assisted with communications.We rendezvoused with the ship North of Dwarskersbos, in a 30 knot gusting wind and rolling sea conditions, where the helicopter landed onboard the ship and the patient, in the care of the EMS rescue paramedic, was brought aboard the helicopter and airlifted to AFB Ysterplaat where an EMS ambulance crew took over care of the patient and transported the patient to hospital in a stable condition.The operation was completed at 17h50.KOMMETJIE:Ian Klopper, NSRI Kommetjie station commander, said:At 21h40, Monday, 18th December, NSRI Kommetjie duty crew dispatched our NSRI Fire trailer to a residence in Kommetjie where a burst water pipe threatened to flood residential homes.We used our NSRI fire pump and hoses to redirect the water flow away from residents houses until the Water Department arrived and repaired the burst water pipe and no further assistance was required.TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONE