JEFFREYS BAY:Paul van Jaarsveld, NSRI Jeffreys Bay deputy station commander, said:At 20h48, Wednesday, 15 July, NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty crew were activated following eye-witness reports of a suspected red distress flare sighted off-shore of Jeffreys Bay.The sea rescue craft Rescue 37 was launched and NSRI crew and coastwatchers deployed along the coast to scan the horizon in the direction of the sighting.Telkom Radio Services confirmed that there were no vessels in that vicinity at the time and an all ships alert was broadcast on the emergency maritime radio frequency and no vessels at sea reported any sightings.NSRI St Francis Bay duty crew were activated and their sea rescue craft Spirit of St Francis II was launched to join in the search.An extensive sea search deep-sea offshore of Jeffreys Bay revealed no persons, craft or vessels in distress and investigations revealed no reports of anyone overdue or missing.MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) assisted in plotting search patterns and coordination and NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) assisted NSRI Jeffreys Bay duty controllers with the coordination of the operation and liaison with Air Traffic Control and the SA Police Services.The search was suspended after midnight and further investigations on Thursday confirmed no vessels overdue and no persons missing that may be related to this incident and the origin of the red distress flares remains unknown.
RICHARDS BAY:Jacques Kruger, NSRI Richards Bay duty coxswain, saidAt 08h00, Thursday, 16 July, NSRI Richards Bay duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Spirit of Richards Bay accompanied by 2 Netcare 911 rescue paramedics to patient evacuate a 62 year old Russian crewman off a bulk carrier motor vessel.The patient, with a medical condition, was required to be taken to hospital for medical care.We rendezvoused with the vessel 5 nautical miles off-shore of Richards Bay.A Netcare 911 rescue paramedic and an NSRI rescue swimmer were transferred onto the vessel and they took over care of the patient from the ships medical crew and the patient was transferred onto our sea rescue craft without incident.The patient, in a stable condition and in the care of the paramedics, was brought to our NSRI Richards Bay sea rescue base and he has been transported to hospital by a Netcare 911 ambulance.All Covid-19 precautions and protocols were observed during the operation.NSRI Emergency Operations Centre, Telkom Maritime Radio Services, WC Government Health EMS, Netcare 911 duty coordinators, NSRI Richards duty controllers, Transnet National Ports Authority and Port Health Authorities assisted Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in communications, coordination and logistics during the operation.The operation completed at 10h30.
