Twenty crew members had a narrow escape when their boat caught fire. Picture: Supplied
The safety of fishing vessels belonging to deep-sea trawling company Sea Harvest has once again been thrust into the spotlight after 20 crew members had a narrow escape when their boat caught fire.
While all escaped with no injuries, the fishing trawler has been presumed to have sunk after an extensive sea search.
The 62-year-old MVF Armana, with 20 crew members on board, caught alight on Sunday morning about 60 nautical miles offshore from Gansbaai. It was out at sea for its usual fishing expedition.
The incident comes days after the Western Cape High Court declared that 11 fishermen who went missing at sea on May 18 were presumed dead.
The hake deep-sea trawl vessel, MFV Lepanto, also belonging to the company, sank about 350m into the ocean, off the coast of Hout Bay. Nine people survived after being rescued on the fateful day.
On Sunday’s incident, South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) spokesperson Sicelo Fayo said all crew members of the vessel were rescued and unscathed.
“Initial indications were that the vessel was sinking but subsequent information received by Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) located at the Samsa Centre for Sea Watch and Response in Cape Town indicated that the 20 crew had to abandon the fishing vessel due to a fire on board. All 20 crew members of the vessel have been rescued and are confirmed unharmed,” said Fayo.
Families of the rescued crew were informed and the company was reported to be keeping them up to date accordingly.
In an update on Monday, Fayo said the crew arrived safely at 7.45pm on Sunday in Cape Town aboard MFV Ludwani, another of the Sea Harvest Group’s vessels, which had been mobilised to assist with the rescue.
“Soon after the crew had abandoned the vessel and rescued by the MFV Ludwani, with assistance co-ordinated by the MRCC at the Samsa Centre for Sea Watch and Response in Cape Town, measures were taken to both monitor the MFV Armana where it had initially remained adrift at a location approximately 57 Nautical Miles South of Gansbaai, as well as to arrange salvage of the MVF Armana.
“These measures involved the deployment of the MFV Harvest Saldanha for monitoring, as well as the dispatch of the Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) Umkhuseli, to tow the stricken vessel to a safe place of refuge. However, regrettably, sight was eventually lost of the MVF Armana in the early hours of Monday,” said Fayo.
A decision was then taken to call the search off at 1pm on Monday, and the vessel was declared to be presumed sunk.
A safety navigational warning has been issued to all vessels located in or near the last known ocean position of the casualty fishing vessel, as well as to report any sightings of the MFV Armana, according to Samsa.
“The Samsa Incident Management Team is in constant contact with the owners and all parties concerned. Samsa will be investigating the cause of the fire on the casualty fishing vessel, MFV Armana,” said Fayo.
Sea Harvest corporate executive Madoda Khumalo said: “This is a very unfortunate incident. However, we are thankful that the crew managed to get off the vessel and that they have been reunited with their families. Each crew member was examined by a medical practitioner and has been offered counselling support. At this stage, a Sea Harvest vessel together with the South African Maritime Safety Authority is monitoring the area where the incident occurred. Samsa can be contacted for further information regarding this matter.”
The company did not respond to questions including how it would ensure there are no further incidents.
The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) had previously spoken out about the age of the fleets which were “deeply troubling”.
It alleged that the company “risk exposing their crews to the Cape of Storms in what many would consider to be old rust buckets that should have been decommissioned years ago”.
Sea Harvest did not respond to questions related to Fawu’s allegations at the time.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has confirmed that nearly 20 fishermen have died at sea, prompting her to instruct Samsa board chairperson Mahesh Fakir to urgently conduct safety inspections of all commercial fishing vessels operating in South African waters.
“I must express my concern about the increasing number of incidents involving fishing vessels in our waters. This year alone, we have witnessed no fewer than five significant incidents, tragically resulting in the loss of 18 lives.
“Such incidents are deeply concerning, and it is clear that we must take immediate action to improve the safety of our fishing fleet.
“As a result, I have instructed Samsa to conduct safety audit inspections on all fishing vessels operating in South African waters that are in our register, and present a report as soon as possible,” said Creecy.
She has further instructed Samsa to develop a fishing vessel safety improvement plan aimed at preventing future incidents and ensuring that vessels operating in South African waters meet the highest safety standards.
Samsa said it noted the minister’s directive.
Cape Times
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