Skipper’s 1km swim raises help for crew
FIVE men were rescued after one of them swam about a kilometre to shore to raise the alarm after their boat capsized off Macassar Beach yesterday, the NSRI said.
NSRI Strandfontein station commander Vaughn Seconds said two local fishermen – Ismail Moolla and Zain Mohammed – had been fishing at Macassar Beach when a man swam to shore “exhausted and hypothermic”.
The man and four fellow fishermen had launched from Gordon’s Bay earlier in the day.
Moola told the NSRI that he could see the capsized boat and people hanging on to the upturned hull about 500m off-shore. Other bystanders also came to help, while NSRI and other rescue services responded.
“Paramedics treated Peter Wolmerans, 57, the skipper of Fire Bird, for shock, exhaustion, and hypothermia.
“The Skymed rescue helicopter located the boat with four men hanging on to the upturned hull,” Seconds said.
The men were taken by the NSRI to the Gordon’s Bay sea rescue base.
Paramedics treated them and no further medical assistance was required.
Sea Rescue assisted to right the capsized boat at sea which was then towed to Gordon’s Bay harbour.
Seconds commended Moola, Mohammed and the rescue personnel for their swift action which helped save the men’s lives.
“Mr Wolmerans is commended for swimming about a kilometre to the beach to raise the alarm,” he said.
Meanwhile the 63-year-old skipper of a Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) service boat is still missing after the vessel capsized off Cape Town harbour on Saturday.
NSRI Table Bay duty crew responded after the 13.95m-long Troupand capsized about 300m off-shore with three crew on board, NSRI Table Bay station commander Quentin Botha said.
“Crew from the fishing vessel Jin Syi Shiang, that were first on the scene, threw life rings to two survivors, two men believed to be in their 50s and believed to be from Cape Town, and both men were taken aboard the TNPA working boat Blue Jay,” Botha said.
No sign of the missing man was found despite an extensive search.
The capsized vessel would be towed to port. The police and South African Maritime Safety Authority were investigating the incident, Botha said.