Doomed trawler probe will take six-to-eight months

It will take six-to-eight months to probe the root causes behind the sinking of a Sea Harvest fishing trawler that sank off Hout Bay, says the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa).

The sinking of the MFV Lepanto on Friday afternoon May 17 cost the lives of 11 fishermen.

The 63-year-old trawler was later described as a “rust bucket” by the Food and Allied Workers Union, which, in a previous statement, 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.” (“Doomed trawler was a ‘rust bucket’, says union,” Sentinel, May 2024).

A Samsa investigation team appointed immediately after the sinking was gathering information and doing interviews, said spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie.

“The preliminary enquiry is expected to take six-to-eight months to complete. The investigation team is currently looking at the following: processing the information gathered, conducting follow-up interviews to ascertain facts with the surviving crew, considering possible causes for the sinking of the vessel.

“Upon the conclusion of the preliminary investigation, a report will be compiled and shared with the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, with recommendations. Due the gravity of the incident and the loss of life, one of the recommendations will be a request to the Minister of Transport to constitute a marine court of enquiry in terms of section 266 of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1951,“ Mr Ramatjie said.

Asked about developments in the investigation, Sea Harvest spokesperson Anthea Abraham referred the Sentinel to Samsa.