South Africa: Chinese sailors safe in daring sea rescue op

A daring helicopter rescue staged from George in high winds and heaving seas brought two Chinese sailors to safety after they were injured when a giant wave hit their ship.

But a desperate search by a South African aircraft has failed to find any sign of a third sailor who was swept overboard by the wave as it scoured the decks.

The unidentified seaman was aboard a Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier that was struggling through huge swells, pitching and rolling during a savage storm off Port Elizabeth yesterday.

An engineer from the Canadian Helicopter Company was winched down to the heaving deck of the Hebei Progress to help the two sailors into the strops so they could be hoisted into the helicopter. One of the sailors had lost two fingers.

The Hebei Progress, a laden 253-metre bulk carrier, is sailing from Brazil to China.

Another helicopter went to the rescue of a sailor injured by rough seas on another cargo ship, about 200 miles to the south, near Mossel Bay.

Aboard the Hebei Progress, disaster threatened when a securing rope on deck came adrift in the storm yesterday.

The master of the vessel had sent three of his crew down to the deck to control and retie the rope, said Craig Lambinon, spokesman for the NSRI.

While they battled to secure the rope, a wave smashed over the ship, washing a 38-year-old veteran overboard, said Pranesh Oodhrajh of Rennies Ships Agencies.

His two comrades held on for dear life, but were injured as they were knocked about, hitting the ship's cold steel deck fittings.

One man suffered a broken jaw and the other had two fingers torn off, as well as other injuries to the hand.

Shortly after 11am, the long-range pollution-spotting aircraft Kuswag 8 flew into 50-knot westerly winds to look for the missing sailor.

A thorough sweep of the area lasting several hours, about 45 nautical miles from Port Elizabeth, failed to find any sign of the man.

The Canadian Helicopter Company/NSRI high-line helicopter based at George, with a Metro paramedic aboard, was dispatched by Port Elizabeth port control and, in the roaring wind, hoisted the injured men aboard to fly them to hospital.

NSRI crew aboard the helicopter described the sea conditions as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Under normal conditions the ship was big enough for the helicopter to land, but she was rolling too badly - through about 20¡ - for that," Lambinon said.

The helicopter was piloted by the CHC Sikorski 61 pilots, Senior Captain Ken Whittle and co-pilot "Monster" Wilkins, and CHC engineer Cameron Qumba was winched down to the ship.

The two patients are now in a stable condition in St George's hospital in Port Elizabeth.

An interpreter was also winched aboard the helicopter to assist with communications.

At 4.15pm the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre had been alerted to an injured sailor aboard the 225-metre tanker Angelea N, 65 nautical miles off Mossel Bay, Lambinon said.
The sailor, believed to be an officer, was injured when his ship was struck by the heavy weather. He hit his head against a railing stanchion.

The Mossel Bay NSRI flew a Bell Jet Ranger to airlift the patient to hospital at the request of the ship's agent.

Source: www.capeargus.co.za