Capsized trawler beaches

NSRI Kommetjie and NSRI Hout Bay were activated on Saturday following reports of two surfers at Dunes, Noordhoek, appearing to be in difficulty in the surf.

The NSRI Emergency Operations Centre alerted the City of Cape Town sea rescue emergency network, placing it on alert.

On arrival at the scene both surfers had got safely to shore and required no assistance.

Yesterday, the NSRI said an unidentified capsized fishing trawler found floating at sea on the South Africa/ Mozambique border this past week had come ashore in Mozambique.

On Friday morning, NSRI Richards Bay was notified by a dive charter crew reporting to have come across the trawler approximately 10 nautical miles off shore between Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique and Kosi Bay in South Africa, NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said.

Divers found no identification on the trawler, which appeared to have been capsized for a long time and was in a dilapidated state.

The South African and Mozambican Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres (MRCC) were informed and Telkom Maritime Radio Services broadcast a maritime navigational hazard alert, he said.

On Saturday morning, NSRI Richards Bay was informed that the wreck had beached on Friday night along the shore in the vicinity of Ponta do Ouro.

MRCC South Africa was notified by the NSRI emergency operations centre.

Mozambique maritime authorities had been at the scene on Friday night to investigate the wreck.

The origin and the identity of the trawler remained unknown, Lambinon said. |