Siyavuya Mzantsi
THE families of three missing yachtsmen who were on their way to deliver a luxury yacht to Thailand say they want the incident to serve as safety awareness for working sailors.
The three sailors on the Sunsail catamaran – skipper Anthony Murray, 58, Reginald “Reg” Robertson, 59, and Capetonian first-time sailor Jaryd Payne, 20 – last made contact with their relatives last year January. They departed from Cape Town in December 2014.
Hopes of finding answers were dashed last week when the hull of an upturned catamaran was sighted, but attempts to tow it into harbour failed, when the tow line came lose. The hull was lost at sea near Port Elizabeth.
At the Marina Centre at the V&A Waterfront yesterday, the families called for an inquest into the incident.
In a joint statement they said they were dedicated to finding not just answers of what had happened to their loved ones, but to improving conditions for working sailors.
They want to establish fairer practices and enforce compliance with the legislation for working sailors around the world. They said they would do this with the single aim of ensuring increased safety for sailors.
Murray’s sister-in-law, Diane Coetzer, said the photographs of the hull suggested none of their loved ones could have survived.
“We are not expecting them to be alive. It would be an absolute miracle if they are alive. What we are expecting from this incident is to make sailing safer for working sailors.
“These were working men who were paid to do the job and we need to make sure their legacy is one of protection for those kind of sailors,” said the visibly upset Coetzer.
The three families were informed by their lawyers on January 18 that an upturned hull had been sighted by the Brazilian naval vessel Amazonas off Cape Recife near Port Elizabeth.
Coetzer said the recovery of three sailors’ bodies would bring a measure of closure to the families. “This is a very dangerous job – it is also full of delight for those who do it, but, at the very least, those who are asking them to do the job should be affording them proper protection and this is a direction we’re headed in.
“We are headed in a much bigger direction than simply finding answers about our men,” she said.