The Silver Dorado drifted towards Cape Recife still well ablaze.
At least 21 fishermen have been rescued after their trawler caught fire in the Eastern Cape.
It is understood that the fishing vessel caught ablaze approximately one nautical mile offshore of Noordhoek, Gqeberha, on Monday.
The fishing vessel had departed the Port of Port Elizabeth earlier, heading to fishing grounds.
Fire
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Gqeberha station commander Mark Dawson said they responded to the incident just before 6pm.
“NSRI Gqeberha duty controllers, Telkom Maritime Radio Services, and vessels at sea in the area at the time, intercepted a Mayday distress call on VHF marine channel 16 – from the local fishing vessel Silver Dorado – reporting a fire onboard and all of her 21 crew preparing to abandon the vessel.
ALSO READ: Four treated after chemical incident in Montague Gardens [VIDEO]
Abandon ship
Dawson said Telkom Maritime Radio Services broadcast an all ships alert on marine VHF channel 16, relaying the Mayday distress call, alerting vessels in the area to divert to assist survivors reported to be abandoning the casualty fishing vessel.
“A local fishing vessel, Leguga, arriving on the scene, launched their own life raft to assist the fishermen casualties who were in the water near their burning fishing vessel. All 21 fishermen had abandoned the burning vessel at sea.”
Rescue
He said at least another five fishing vessels, which had intercepted the Mayday call, arrived on the scene where the fishing vessel Legugu had, at that stage, managed to recover 12 fishermen from their life raft and from the sea.
“All 21 casualty crew were rescued by the local fishing vessels that had gone to her assistance. All 21 crew were reported to be accounted for and safe. We believe that all 21 fishermen are South African.
“It appears that a fire from undetermined causes spread fast after being discovered onboard by the skipper. We believe all remaining 20 crew were in bunks resting in preparation for reaching the fishing grounds.
“We believe the skipper alerted his crew and they were forced to abandon ship without having time to launch their own life raft, but the skipper was able to dispatch a Mayday distress VHF radio call,” Dawson said.
Dawson said all 21 men were medically assessed by EMS paramedics.
“All casualty crew were confirmed to not be injured and requiring no medical care.”
ALSO READ: Search for at least 12 missing beachgoers ongoing, says NSRI
Where is the trawler
Dawson said the Silver Dorado drifted towards Cape Recife still well ablaze.
“The NSRI rescue craft Rescue 6 Alpha monitored the fishing vessel – predicting her drift and speed, well ablaze, on behalf of SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority). It appears that the casualty vessel is in the vicinity of a reef near Cape Recife and is still ablaze.
“SAMSA has been informed that the owners have appointed a salvage and spill response company, which is monitoring and attempting to gain access to the vessel, but is hampered at present by the dangerous reef and darkness (the situation during the night). This is in progress,” Dawson said.
Dawson said the cause of the fishing vessel fire will be investigated by SAMSA and the police.
ALSO READ: Mossel Bay fire: Municipality issues strong warnings
