Twenty crew members of a casualty fishing vessel abandoned at sea on Sunday after it caught fire arrived safely and were disembarked in Cape on Sunday night, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) confirmed on Monday.
However, a search for the vessel had since been called off on Monday afternoon after sight of her was lost after midnight on Sunday, and was now presumed sunken, reported SAMSA.
The fiery incident involving the 62 year old MVF Armana and which led to her abandonment by her crew after a fire onboard occurred early on Sunday (13 October 2024) while she was located approximately 60 Nautical Miles offshore from Gansbaai.
In a statement, SAMSA said: “The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) herewith confirms the safe arrival and disembarkation of all 20 crew members of the abandoned fishing vessel, MFV Armana, at the port of Cape Town last night, as well as the discontinuation of a search for the vessel after sight was lost of it early on Monday.
“The 20 member crew of the vessel arrived safely at 19h45 (local time) in Cape Town on Sunday night (13 October) aboard the MFV Ludwani, another of the Sea Harvest Group’s vessels, which had been mobilised to assist with the rescue after the crew of the MFV Armana had to abandon the fishing vessel due to a fire on board.
“Soon after the crew had abandoned the vessel and rescued by the MFV Ludwani, with assistance coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) at the SAMSA Centre for Sea Watch and Response in Cape Town, measures were taken to both monitor the MFV Armana where it had initially remained adrift at a location approximately 57 Nautical Miles south of Gansbaai, as well as to arrange salvage of the MVF Armana.
“These measures involved the deployment of the MFV Harvest Saldanha for monitoring, as well as the dispatch of the Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) Umkhuseli, to tow the stricken vessel to a safe place of refuge.
“However, regrettably, sight was eventually lost of the MVF Armana in the early hours of Monday (14 October 2024). A search for the vessel was conducted for several hours early Monday without success, and a decision was taken to call it off at 13h00 on Monday as the vessel is now presumed sunk,” said SAMSA.
SAMSA added that a safety navigational warning was issued to all vessels located in or near the last known ocean position of the casualty fishing vessel, as well as to report any sightings of the MFV Armana. SAMSA said an Incident Management Team remain in constant contact with the owners and all parties concerned.
SAMSA confirmed that it will be investigating the cause of the fire on the casualty fishing vessel, MFV Armana.
Meanwhile, SAMSA further said it had taken note of the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy’s directive to the entity on Sunday to conduct an urgent safety inspections of all commercial fishing vessels operating in South African waters.
“SAMSA acknowledges and has taken note of the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy’s directive to SAMSA on Sunday to implement a program to develop a more comprehensive fishing vessel safety improvement plan and is committed to work with all fishing industry stakeholders to ensure that we achieve this end goal,” said SAMSA.
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