Then and now: fisheries research vessels vital to sustainable fishing industry
THAT NO one drowned or was seriously injured during Friday’s near-tragedy involving the distressed Robben Island ferry Thandi is a tribute to the rapid response and seamanship displayed by the crews of the National Sea Rescue Institute, the pilot boat, and of other vessels and helicopters that responded.
Daily NSRI communiques provide details of amazing exploits of its unsung, intrepid rescue crews. They attend heart-attack victims at coastal villages, they bring ashore injured or ill crew members from passing ships, or assist leisure craft or fishing boats in trouble.
The maritime safety authority’s report that should refer to Thandi’s seaworthiness at the time of the incident will make interesting reading.
Walking from the NSRI base at the Waterfront towards the Clock Tower, visitors will pass over the swing bridge at The Cut, the original entrance to Cape Town harbour. Still visible in the sides of The Cut is the old stonework, the product of convict labour during harbour construction from 1860 to 1870.
I have several photographs of vessels passing through that entrance. Having loaded at the quay on which the Cape Grace Hotel now stands, and outward for the west coast, the coasters Swazi and Clara were photographed in The Cut. Hogarth’s 1927-vintage steamer, Baron Saltoun, is another vessel photographed in The Cut. In June 1940, the freighter sank after hitting a mine off Cherbourg, France.
Taken in about 1930, a photograph of the fisheries research vessel Africana in The Cut is also in my collection. When the naval hydrographic survey vessel, Protea, was disposed of in 1934, Africana undertook survey work during which her echo-sounder was most useful.
She was one of many trawlers and whalers commandeered during World War II for minesweeping and patrol duties, in the course of which she rescued scores of survivors from several ships torpedoed off the coast. The crew of the freighter Point Pleasant Park abandoned their ship when she was torpedoed about 300 nautical miles off the Orange River mouth. Nine days later, Africana found them and landed them in Lüderitz, Namibia.
Africana II replaced the old steamer in 1950. Sporting the lines of a typical British trawler, but fitted with comfortable accommodation for scientists and modern equipment, the new fisheries research ship was welcomed by local ichthyologists as they determined fish stocks off the southern African coast.
When Africana II was close to 30 years old, the Department of Sea Fisheries contracted a Durban yard to build a 77m replacement with the most modern equipment, including stern trawling gear. Continuing the name of a type of lily, the third Africana entered service in 1982 to undertake fisheries research in coastal waters and in more remote fishing grounds where local trawlers operate.
She was one of the Department of Fisheries’ vessels that a previous cabinet minister, in a fit of pique, incredulously sent to Simon’s Town to be placed under naval control. This unwise move saw the so-called Daff fleet, including Africana, laid up in the naval harbour for more than a year. At additional expense, chartered vessel undertook research voyages that are so essential to sustain fish stocks.
The maritime safety authority took over the fleet and, after subsequent refits, the vessels returned to sea. Africana’s equipment was modernised and modified to enhance her efficiency as a research vessel. After her current refit, she should return to sea next week.
Planning for a replacement vessel for the 35-year-old ship is long overdue, especially as South Africa is a signatory to several international oceanographic and fishing agreements relating to marine resources of the adjacent oceans.