New blessing for NSRI
The blessing of ships and vessels is an important sea-faring tradition.
A NEW rescue vessel, ‘The Spirit of Dawn,’ was donated to the NSRI Rescue Base at the Sonny Evans Small Craft Harbour in Shelly Beach recently. A blessing ceremony took place last Saturday.
Station commander Pieter Coetzee said that the blessing of ships and vessels and those that sail in them are an important sea-faring tradition going back many centuries.
“Our head office has raised the bar for our station over the past few months. I would like to thank our Director of Operations, Mark Hughes and his crew in Cape Town as well as the Duncan family for bettering our equipment so that we can perform our tasks better and safer. With this new vessel, it is all possible!” said Mr Coetzee.
Anne Bliss and Ling Lister, cousins of the late Dawn and Rob Duncan explained that the family have a long association with ships and the sea.
“Rob’s grandfather Robert Mercer and uncle William Mercer, both ship engineers, died at sea after their ship was struck by a torpedo in World War I,” they said.
After popping the bubbly, the women handed over the keys of the magnificent vessel to Mark Hughes. For more photos, visit our gallery.
