Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Seaman tells of the day he was aboard the Antipolis
SEASONED seaman, bowsman and trainer Bertram Fuscher was on the
Antipolis the day it ran aground in July 1977 and, for the first time, has shared his story on how she sank.
A week ago, the Antipolis wreck washed up on the beach near Oudekraal after being submerged in the ocean for four decades.
Coastal experts confirmed the unusual wave activity had caused the wreck to wash up.
The Antipolis, a 25 000-ton Greek oil tanker, and another tanker, the
Romelia, were deemed derelict and were being towed by a Japanese tug boat. The ships broke free and Romelia settled near Sandy Bay.
The tankers were being towed from Greece to a scrapyard in the Far East when the drama unfolded.
Fuscher, who was 37 at the time, had been called in a rescue operation to repair and replace the tow.
Speaking to the Weekend Argus from his home in Brackenfell, Fuscher, who has sea life running through his veins, said he had trained thousands of seamen during his career after starting out at the age of 17.
On the day that the ship wreck surfaced, Fuscher’s son, Leighton, informed him of the news.
“I could not believe it, I was pleasantly surprised and she had been scrapped right up to the keel at the time and we were forbidden to speak to the press, you are the first reporter I am speaking to,” he said.
Fuscher had grown up in an orphanage and his male relatives had worked at sea.
Fuscher still has his fishing report book in his possession, which is more than 50 years old, where he documented his journeys around the world, including his training.
Fuscher was a trainer and lecturer for Safmarine and I&J where he trained thousands of seamen, some of whom had even been guerillas before they were sent for the courses.
“The sea was calling me,” he said. But rough seas in the winter of July 1977 saw the Antipolis hit a rock and begin running aground with Fuscher and his colleagues aboard.
Fuscher said the Antipolis was a dead ship which had no crew.
He had been living in Mitchells Plain and was brought to Sea Point, where he dangled from a helicopter to be hoisted aboard the Antipolis, feeling the waves touching his feet.
“I was still in the prime of my life and was healthy.
“A guy called Spiere (muscles) was also called. I was lowered on to the vessel and waited for the other guys to come.
“The waves were pushing her, I remember how I hung on to the helicopter and we went past Sea Point and Llandudno and I could feel the waves touching my feet.
“I moved forward and I had to establish a point on the vessel and to put the rope up to the helicopter.
“There were huge holes in the vessel,
it was a hell of a night. Both tankers were towed in tandem. The tows parted due to rough waters,” he said.
Fuscher explained that the waters were so rough, the ship struck a rock and began to run aground and that he spent more than four hours aboard.
“It was a dead ship, there was no crew, it was being decommissioned and was being towed by a Japanese tug.
“We managed to get the rope up to the helicopter, but the ship was running aground very fast, I’ve never seen a vessel go aground so fast.
“The reason for this is that the vessel was lightly shipped, which means it had little body in the water.
“The waves continued to push her very fast, I had been on the vessel for about 10 minutes when she ran aground, you could hear the keel at the bottom growling on the rocks, and then she slid in nicely into the little cove there until the sea had pushed her back where she was below the waters,” he said.
Fuscher said they remained on the ship for about four hours after it had run aground, waiting to be taken to dry land.
Today, Fuscher holds these memories dear, among the many moments he had experienced at sea, saying he always kept his nose clean and had a clear mind.