Sea Harvest’s MFV Lepanto sank off Hout Bay’s coast on Friday. Picture: SAMA
The Sea Harvest fishing trawler that sank off the coast of Hout Bay, taking with it the lives of 11 fishermen, was a 63-year-old "rust bucket", says the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu).
The MFV Lepanto, which had left Hout Bay Harbour, sank on Friday afternoon May 17 some 34 nautical miles (nearly 63km) off the coast of Hout Bay.
Nine of the 20-member crew were rescued without injury, but the search for the missing 11 was called off on Monday and they are now presumed drowned, according to Sea Harvest.
In a statement, the union said: “We are well aware that hake deep-sea trawl right holders have been struggling to land their allocations and that they are working their fleet and crews at full capacity to maximise their bottom line. We are more alarmed to understand that as we speak Sea Harvest has in operation another five vessels that are older than 60 years and another five that are 50 years old. The age of the Sea Harvest fleet is deeply troubling."
Asked about this, Sea Harvest spokeswoman Anthea Abraham said: “There is an active investigation that is currently underway by the regulator, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa). We have to respect the process. Our key priority is to support our people and the affected families at this tragic time.”
Samsa spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie said there were Force 2 southerly winds and south-westerly 3-metre sells on the day of the sinking.
“The investigation is still at an early stage,” Mr Ramatjie said.
Sea Harvest CEO Felix Ratheb said the company was “devastated by this tragedy” and was providing counselling to the families of the missing men and other staff “as this has been extremely upsetting and sad for all of us.”
On the fateful Friday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Authority (NSRI) at Hout Bay and Table Bay responded to reports of the vessel sinking off Hout Bay.
At least five fishing vessels nearby also responded to a mayday distress call intercepted by Telkom Maritime Radio Services, locating and recovering the nine survivors from a life raft.
They were brought to the Port of Table Bay aboard the MFV Armana, another Sea Harvest vessel that was in the area at the time of the distress call.
The men were reunited with their families after a physical evaluation by a medical doctor and were provided with immediate trauma counselling.
According to Hangberg community activist Roscoe Jacobs, none of the missing fishermen was from Hout Bay.
On Monday, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Premier Alan Winde visited the families of the 11 fishermen missing at sea to offer their condolences and support.
“We are mourning today with the families of those fishermen lost at sea. Together with the premier, I conveyed our deepest condolences directly to these families this morning, 10 of whom are from Cape Town, with one from Malmesbury.
“We honour and remember these fishermen. We are praying for their families.”