Another tragedy hits Cape coast fishermen

In the second fishing tragedy in as many days, a Mossel Bay fisherman fell overboard seven nautical miles off Tsitsikamma Point early on Monday and is presumed drowned.

In an earlier tragedy on Sunday, four Cape Town residents were among the 14 victims of the trawler accident off the coast of Port Elizabeth, one of the worst maritime disasters in the area in recent years.

Skipper Paul Landers and crewman Johan Ehlers were the only survivors of the early-morning collision with a passing tanker.

Landers was still in high care at a Port Elizabeth hospital yesterday.

Nigel Benson, 26, of Mossel Bay was thrown over the side of Emmanuel, a chokka (squid) trawler owned by Seavuna.

The 12-man crew of the 24-metre vessel were casting nets 25 nautical miles south west of St Francis Bay near Port Elizabeth at the time.

They threw flotation aids - including lifebuoys - to Benson, but theylost sight of him in the water.

According to Clive Shamley, station commander of the National Sea Rescue Institute at St Francis Bay, bad weather and rough sea conditions were most likely the cause of the accident.

Benson - who had worked at Seavuna Fishing for the past nine months - was wearing oilskins when he was thrown into the sea.

Although the skins are weatherproof, they can fill up with water and make swimming very difficult, said Shamley.

The Emmanuel began "man overboard" procedures immediately after Benson went overboard.

They embarked on a search pattern and began sending distress calls to all vessels in the area to assist in the search.

According to Shamley, there was a time lapse in relaying the distress call between coastal stations and the port captain, resulting in a delayed rescue effort.

"An hour and a half is obviously far too long a response time. We can't comment on whether this was an equipment or personal issue, but the NSRI is looking into the matter," said Shamley.

A St Francis Bay NSRI craft (Spirit of St Francis), five private boats and an Air Force helicopter were involved in the extensive search over 100 square nautical miles.

Even though visibility was good, the search revealed nothing and was called off at 12.30pm.

Benson is survived by his mother, two sisters and a brother.

"Nigel was a man of the sea. It's all he knew. Whenever he came home from fishing, there was always a smile on his face. He was just an amazing person, kind and generous. We are going to miss him dearly," said sister Raylene.

The four Cape Town victims of Sunday's shipping disaster were permanent residents of the city, but were home only during extended breaks when they were not fishing in Mossel Bay.

The Viking Fishing group has organised for trauma counsellors and social workers to meet with the grieving families.

"It's very tough when you have this sort of thing happening. A lot of families in the area will be left without their breadwinners," said Shamley.

Source: www.iol.co.za