[imagesource:nsri]

The six fishermen from Hout Bay and Hawston that were last seen on Saturday have been successfully rescued ‘miles of the coast’ by a Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment patrol vessel.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said after an extensive search-and-rescue operation involving multiple roleplayers and reaching in excess of 80 nautical miles southeast of Cape Point, the six fishermen were found “in good health and not injured”.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the fishermen were expected to arrive in Simon’s Town on Tuesday morning.

“At this stage, we expect them to arrive in Simonstown at around 10h00 today.”

An NSRI Simonstown rescue craft has launched and is escorting them on their last leg towards Simonstown.

The support and efforts of the maritime community as well as the extensive search carried out by DFFE Fisheries Patrol vessels Ellen Khuzwayo and Ruth First who extensively searched a plotted search grid taking sea drift, wind speeds and direction into account, by MRCC SAR Coordinator, is commended in the successful rescue operation.

In a separate incident, the NSRI also rescued four scuba divers (2 males, from the KZN South Coast and a father and daughter, from Cape Town), who went missing during a scuba dive on Sunday.

NSRI Shelly Beach was activated following reports of four scuba divers missing in the vicinity of Protea Banks, Southern Pinnacle, just over 4 nautical miles off-shore of Margate, KZN South Coast. A private fixed-wing aeroplane was also dispatched and contributed to an approximately 20-minute search.

The four divers were located among 4.5-metre sea swells by the crew onboard the NSRI rescue craft Spirit of Dawn, and they were recovered onto the NSRI rescue craft. All are in “good health”.

With 10 lives saved in a matter of a few days, the NSRI deserves a tip of the hat. Even better, why not donate a few Rands to support them?

[source:nsri]