Early Sunday morning, a fire on a fishing boat about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Gansbaai in the Western Cape forced the crew to abandon ship. Cape {city} etc reports.
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The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) verified this on Sunday afternoon.
Authorities said there were already signs that the 62-year-old MFV Arman was drowning.
According to subsequent information received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center located at the Samsa Maritime Observation and Response Center in Cape Town, 20 crew members on board the fishing vessel were forced to abandon it due to the fire.
“Thankfully, all 20 crew members of the vessel were rescued, confirmed to have suffered no injuries and are on their way back to Cape Town aboard the MFV Ludwani – another Sea Harvest Group vessel that was in the area at the time of the call. It is estimated to arrive at 8 p.m. (local time) tonight and will be greeted by Samsa upon arrival,” officials said.
It went on to say that the relatives of the rescued crew had been notified and the company kept them updated.
It was said that MFV Arman was currently sailing 57 nautical miles south of Gansbaai and was being observed by MFV Collect Saldanha.
Samsa said it advised the owner to hire a tug to drag the damaged vessel to safety and appoint a rescuer.
The Samsa incident management team communicates with owners and all other parties involved.
Samsa said additional information would be provided as soon as it became available.
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Photo: Jude Mack / Unsplash
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