Four people have died and one person is still missing after a fishing vessel ran aground on the rocky Gouritz coastline on the south Cape coast on Tuesday.
According to the National Sea Rescue Institute, two people survived the ordeal.
"NSRI Mossel Bay was alerted by Telkom Maritime Radio Services of a mayday distress call received on VHF marine radio, but very little information could be determined from the distress call other than the location, suspected to be along the south Cape coastline," said NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon.
He said rescue teams could not establish the vessel's name, exact location, or how many people were on-board, and all efforts to reach the vessel by VHF marine radio, which had dispatched the mayday, had failed, but another fishing vessel in the area also received a partial mayday stress call.
A search was initiated by sea fishing vessels while the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Transnet National Ports Authority, the NSRI Emergency Operations Centre, and Telkom Maritime Radio Services tried to gather more information.
Lambinon said a NSRI Mossel Bay rescue vehicle, local police, Community Policing Forums, and Mossel Bay Fire and Rescue Services responded to the Gouritz River mouth and searched along the shoreline.
During the search, the NSRI vehicle crew found that, five kilometres west of the river mouth, a local fishing trawler washed up on the rocks. The skipper was spotted performing CPR on one of his six crewmen. Lambinon said the rocks had been swamped by a high tide.
"The skipper confirmed that, including himself, there were a total of seven people on-board. One crewman could be heard shouting for help from the casualty fishing vessel that was badly damaged and was being battered by heavy waves. An NSRI rescue swimmer recovered one crewman from the casualty fishing vessel in rough seas. The skipper and that crewman were treated for hypothermia," Lambinon said.
The search continues for the remaining crewmen.
Lambinon said during an ongoing search, bodies were located and recovered from the surf line. One man remains missing.
"A SAPS dive unit, EMS/AMS Skymed helicopter, and NSRI rescue craft were activated. An extensive sea, air, and shoreline search has revealed no signs of the one missing fisherman. An EMS ambulance transported the skipper and his crewman to hospital where they are recovering, while the bodies of the deceased were handed over to government pathologists. An investigation is under way.
"All seven crew members of the casualty fishing vessel are adults, and they are all believed to be local men. Condolences are conveyed to the families of the four deceased men, and thoughts are with the family of the missing man," Lambinon said.
The SA Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 1 warning of damaging waves between Alexander Bay and Plettenberg Bay from Tuesday until Thursday.
IOL