Shipwreck in Salt Rock
A derelict ship on its way to India for scrap got pushed onto rocks off Sheffield Beach, near Salt Rock, yesterday. The anchor chain of the Phoenix broke and the ship drifted off course. About 15 crewmen were airlifted by three helicopters to safety after the tank ran aground on South Africa’s north coast yesterday. […]
A derelict ship on its way to India for scrap got pushed onto rocks off Sheffield Beach, near Salt Rock, yesterday. The anchor chain of the Phoenix broke and the ship drifted off course.
About 15 crewmen were airlifted by three helicopters to safety after the tank ran aground on South Africa’s north coast yesterday. Bad weather (as seen in these photos) did hamper the rescue attempts but the rescuers bravely succeeded! The rescue was a combined effort by the helicopters of the South African Air Force 15 Squadron, based at the Durban Air Base, the South African Police Services and Transnet National Ports Authority (Richards Bay).
The National Sea Rescue Institute’s Craig Lambinon said: “At this stage obviously very rough sea conditions are being experienced, which are based on storm conditions happening at deep sea, so this will have an impact on this operation. But we believe the high tide may even aid the operation to get this vessel off where she is lying aground, and out to sea.”
Here are some extra photos being circulated by email at the moment:
