A total 15-member crew were successfully rescued off South Africa’s southern Cape seas on the afternoon of 12 September after their vessel, an offshore supply vessel (OSV) caught on fire and had to be abandoned.
According to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), the OSV, named the AM PRIDE and measuring 66.6 meters long and 16 meters wide, sailing under the flag of Marshall Island, reportedly caught on fire early on Thursday, in an ocean area approximately 48.5 nautical miles south of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape province.
The fire, which started in the messroom, quickly spiraled out of control, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) received a distress call from the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA), alerting the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town about the situation.
Due to poor weather conditions, with gusting winds of 30 knots and swells reaching 3.5 to 5 meters, a Mayday relay was issued. Two nearby vessels, MV Angelic Peace and MV Thunderbird, were initially contacted to assist, but a PetroSA helicopter was ultimately deployed. The helicopter retrieved the first group of eight crew members from a life raft near the FA oil platform, with the remaining seven evacuated shortly afterward and flown to George.
The crew was later transferred to Cape Town. Meanwhile, an emergency towing vessel (ETV), the Mkhuseli from African Marine Solution (AMSOL), was dispatched to tow the AM Pride to a safe refuge, as agreed with its owners, with an expected rendezvous the following morning.
