A dramatic 22-minute joint operation, fought on a moving ship and against a raging sea
It was a dramatic 22-minute joint operation, fought on a moving ship and against a raging sea, pelting rain and howling wind, coupled with the downdraft from the helicopter rotors.
With such dangerous, noisy conditions, there was no time for talk between the 15 crewmen from India who had to be winched to safety from the stricken oil tanker, the MT Phoenix, and their rescuers.
The crew were very compliant. They obviously realised what was required of them, said Captain Troy Allison, commander of the SAPS search and rescue unit, who was winched down to the ship with Constable Tiaan Kotze, to help rescue eight of the crewmen.
While Kotze remained on deck, Allison, wearing a body harness, was attached to the sailors with straps and hoisted back up with them, one by one, to the police air wings Squirrel B3 helicopter.
A Transnet National Ports Authority Portnet helicopter from Richards Bay plucked another three men to safety with Kotzes help. An SA Air Force Oryx helicopter and crew winched four more sailors off the deck and deposited them safely on the beach.
On Tuesday night, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon lauded the pilots and their crews for their remarkable display of technical rescue flying ability while sea swells crashed over the ship.
The combined efforts, together with that of a salvage team from Subtech Salvors, averted a potential maritime disaster, he said.
Alerted by the NSRI to the unfolding drama, Allison and his team in the police helicopter, piloted by Captain Frans Haasbroek, flew out from the police air wing base at the old airport.
The weather was extremely foul as the helicopter approached the site, Allison said.
When the alarm went out to Air Force Base Durban, the call-out was answered by three men from 17 Squadron from Air Force Base Swartkop, Pretoria, who were stuck in Durban because of the bad weather.
The pilot, Major Heinrich Holtzhausen, the co-pilot, Lieutenant Justin Ellis and two flight engineers, Sergeant Ricardo Volanie, from 17 Squadron, and Warrant Officer II Bruce Clarke, based in Durban, were promptly airborne, stopping off only to pick up six members of the Subtech Salvors salvage team from the NSRI base at the harbour.
No seamen were injured, but Netcare paramedics took them to be examined by a doctor
Source: Daily News
