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Thursday, January 20, 2005 - Web posted at 7:28:40 GMT Doomed MFV Meob Bay's last minutes revisited WERNER MENGES143 SECONDS. These seconds - less than two and a half minutes in which to make life-or-death decisions - were all the time that the crew of the fatally stricken fishing vessel MFV Meob Bay had to rescue themselves before the ship sank after its propeller got entangled in an anchored floating rope near Luederitz two and a half years ago. |
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This is one of the findings that the Court of Marine Enquiry handed down in Windhoek on Monday. The sinking of the MFV Meob Bay, which belonged to Marco Fishing at Luederitz, with the loss of 19 lives was a sea disaster with a death toll that was unprecedented in the history of Namibia. The response from Government was also unprecedented, with the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication convening a Court of Marine Enquiry in terms of the Merchant Shipping Act to hold a formal investigation into the accident. Monday's judgement - a unanimous verdict by the court's members, maritime law professor Hilton Staniland, trade unionist Alfred Angula, Ronald Bramwell of the Pelagic Fishing Association of Namibia and maritime engineer Elfar Oskarsson - represents the conclusion of that investigation. It encompasses four recommendations to the Ministry for improving safety on boats in Namibian waters, as well as a series of findings about the safety measures and procedures on board the vessel, the procedures that were followed when the ship was abandoned in great haste in stormy seas, and on the question whether the vessel's skipper, Jacques de Kock, could be blamed for any loss of life. OCEAN DRAMA Immediately at its start, the court's judgement, written by professor Staniland and agreed with by the other three members of the court, set the scene for the dramatic events that led to the sinking of the vessel: "With winter winds howling at 30 to 35 knots and with heaving heavy swells of four to six metres, the open sea conditions on 7 June 2002 outside the harbour of Luederitz were bad. At about 17h23 the MFV Meob Bay ventured out from the sheltered waters of the harbour and into the open seas on a fishing expedition. At approximately 18h49 a Mayday call was received by Luederitz radio station from the vessel: there was a very sharp list, there was a rope around the propeller, the engine room was under water, and the vessel would capsize shortly. Suddenly the Mayday transmission cut out as the vessel quickly sank. Nineteen crew members perished. This tragedy is the worst maritime disaster to have ever befallen Namibia." The court stated towards the end of its judgement: "It is a matter of notoriety that working on fishing vessels anywhere in the world is one of the most dangerous occupations." On that early evening two and a half years ago, this fact would be brought home cruelly and sharply to the 28-man crew of the Meob Bay. The conditions at sea, with a water temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, were extreme, and it is within the circumstances of these bad conditions that the abandonment of the vessel had to be judged, the court noted. From the testimony heard by the court, Skipper De Kock was quick to suspect that the ship's propeller had snagged a floating rope when the engine was wrenched to a sudden halt as it was steaming out to sea. He did not yet know that the rope was tied to an anchor, but when he noticed the vessel turning in the swell - its stern eventually facing the oncoming waves, with disastrous results - he tried to run down to the engine room. Seeing tons of water on the deck, he realised they were in extreme danger, and ran back to the bridge, telling both the vessel's chief engineer, Nicolaas Goddard Jantjies, and the mate, W. Plaatjie, to get all the crew members upstairs, the court heard. In the bridge, he sent out a Mayday call, which was cut because by then the vessel was already listing badly. As he left the wheelhouse, the vessel was almost on its side, and it was only "with adrenalin or something" that he managed to release a life raft into the water, and then, being the last crew member remaining on board, he entered the water and swam to the raft, where he helped other crew members inside too. De Kock must have applied exceptional force to get the life raft released, the court concluded. "Skipper De Kock was the last person to leave the doomed vessel in accordance with the time-honoured tradition of the sea," the court noted. Further, in the circumstances of the situation, the vessel was properly abandoned, it added. "From the moment that the rope snagged around the propeller of the vessel until the vessel sank was about 5 minutes. The crew, however, had about half this period of time in which to muster and to abandon the vessel." At longest, they had 143 seconds - which was the time from when De Kock realised the vessel was doomed until she went under - to muster, don their life jackets, and attempt to launch the life rafts, the court concluded. It is within that period that the crew's actions had to be judged, according to the court. Its finding was: "When the Court has regard to the heavy heaving swells, the force of the wind and the waves, the heavy list of the vessel, and the fact that the doomed vessel was only about two and a half minutes away from its fate, it is clear to the court from the evidence that the Skipper and crew conducted a proper abandonment of the vessel and took every reasonable step that could have been expected of them." With regard to De Kock specifically, the court's finding was that, faced suddenly with extraordinary dangers, he had taken all reasonable steps that could be expected in the circumstances to prevent loss of life. RECOMMENDATIONS The next steps will have to be taken by Government. The court made four recommendations to the Minister of Works, Transport and Communication, who is responsible for maritime affairs. The first deals with the fact that because of the extreme listing of the vessel and the type of release clip with which the life raft was secured to the vessel, none of the crew members, except finally De Kock himself, could manage to get a life raft released. Government should consider changing the Construction and Equipment Regulations of 2002 under the Merchant Shipping Act, to require that inflatable life rafts can be launched by a single crew member, even in conditions of heavy list, the court has now recommended. It should also consider bringing the matter to the attention of the United Nations' International Maritime Organisation for a similar change to international maritime safety measures, the court added. A second recommendation is that, in view of the dangers posed by the low water temperatures in the ocean off Namibia's coastline, Namibian fishing vessels should be required to carry anti-exposure and flotation work suits on board for their crew. Thirdly, the Minister should alert the competent authorities to the possibilities of the hazards posed by ropes of the sort that is thought to have doomed the MFV Meob Bay, and to ensure that such dangers to navigation are neutralised. The court finally recommended that the Minister should consider legislation to ensure the compulsory insurance of the lives of Namibian fishermen working aboard fishing vessels. The families of the MFV Meob Bay did indeed receive insurance pay-outs for their loss, but many other fishermen working in Namibia do not have the same benefits. For them, at least, the June 7 2002 disaster may still have some positive fallout. The Court of Marine Enquiry did not have the power to order the payment of compensation to the surviving victims of the disaster; that would have to be done by other courts, the court pointed out. In South Africa, steps to seek compensation have already been taken. There, the Cape High Court has ordered the arrest of a ship belonging to Gemfarm Investments (Pty) Ltd, which is accused of having left the anchored floating rope in the sea in the first place, pending legal proceedings in which the fishing company is demanding compensation from the marine mining outfit accused of having left the rope in the water. |
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