Praise is being heaped on National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Hout Bay rescue swimmer Martin Wesemann and his South African friend from Hawaii who recently helped two women escape from a sinking vehicle in a harbour abroad.

Wesemann, his friend Sean Hutchinson, and a fellow sailor known only as Tony helped the women when the driver apparently followed GPS directions down a boat slipway and into the Honokohau Marina at Kailua-Kona in Hawaii.

In a media statement by the NSRI, Wesemann explains that he and his friends had just returned from a cruise when they noticed the vehicle, with a female driver and passenger, go past them down the slipway. The car was driven into the water before floating further into the harbour and beginning to sink.

“Both ladies were preparing to escape through the vehicle’s front windows and, naturally, Sean and our fellow sailor Tony and myself jumped into the water to assist them,” says Wesemann.

“We were able to help them to escape the sinking vehicle through the front driver and front passenger windows, getting them both safely to shore without incident.”

He says police, fire and rescue services and an ambulance arrived on the scene soon after.

The two women were not injured. “We were in the right place at the right time to help them,” explains Wesemann.