Museum faces choppy waters over ferry mishap

THE operating licence of the Robben Island ferry which nearly sank last week has been revoked until its compliance with maritime legislation has been verified.

This is according to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), which spent this week quizzing staff about the incident. Samsa officials also inspected four other ferries belonging to Nonkululeko Charters, the company which owns the Thandi.

Samsa spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie said the verification process would form part of the investigation into last Friday’s incident, when the ferry, carrying 68 people – tourists and four crew – started taking on water. The ferry had been returning from Robben Island against winds of up to 40 knots.

The fitness of the boat, built in 2014, to be used as a ferry, will be determined as part of the preliminary inquiry, Ramatjie said.

“The preliminary inquiry has been started and is in its the early stages. Samsa can only take action if there has been a contravention of maritime legislation.”

Nonkululeko Charters operations manager Phirial Williams said the company was awaiting Samsa’s report and could not give detailed responses to Weekend Argus.

“The Thandi will commence operations as soon as the necessary approvals are in place,” she said.

DA spokesperson on Economic Opportunities Beverley Schafer told the Weekend Argus the incident had “opened a can of worms”, prompting the provincial standing committee on economic opportunities, tourism, and agriculture to summon the Robben Island Museum and Samsa to the provincial legislature between October 3 and 5 to account for the incident.

Schafer said her calls this week for an independent inquiry into the incident had been prompted by new information pointing to corruption in the tender processes.

She said it was “appalling and gravely concerning that the museum” was not aware of a 2016 report stating Thandi was only to be used in “fine weather conditions”.

“Considering the choppy seas and strong winds as a result of a front passing over Cape Town at the time of the incident, the vessel should absolutely not have been granted permission to sail.

“The fact that the museum was not aware of a report published by itself on a government online tender site, smacks of severe maladministration and mismanagement of the museum and its ferry operations.

“Furthermore, it shows that the museum wilfully operates with no knowledge of the safety, efficacy, and state of its marine vessels, posing a direct threat to human life,” Schafer said.

PICTURE:SUPPLIED The Robben Island ferry, Thandi, ran into difficulties last week.