Air-sea rescue but 'large ship' just disappears

reply to post by harryhaller


Harry ... it sounds very familiar. The thing is, we have a very large coastline. It has always been difficult for us to look after every square inch.

A few years ago we had a squadron of Shackleton aircraft that would patrol up and down - but they were retired and never replaced.

After evaluating four RAF MR.2s in 1953, the South African Air Force ordered 8 aircraft to replace the Short Sunderland in maritime patrol duties. Some minor modifications were required for South African conditions and the resulting aircraft became the MR.3.[4] These Shackletons remained in maritime patrol service with 35 Squadron SAAF up to November 1984.

Link

I have found this website that tracks ships near harbours ... the closest harbours in this case would be Durban and East London:

ShipScene

But, what would we be looking for?

ShipScene enables you to independently view ship movements that are tracked in all the major commercial South African port approaches and their harbours, without having to rely upon time consuming, and sometimes outdated means of obtaining this information. Using the Automated Identification System (AIS) which transmits from all commercial vessels, our ship tracking charts are updated on average every 3 minutes, giving an independent, almost real time overview of the movements of these vessels in and around all of the major ports in South Africa. This ship tracking information, together with other data freely available in the public domain, is intended for all users who have any interest in the shipping and freight forwarding industry in South Africa.

Perhaps if any of are members in the area of the incident in S Africa knew of any way to access NSRI flight plans or search plans, This might help point this in the direction we are seeking ?

Perhaps yous guys might know of any beachcombers down the coastal areas selling salvaged goods ? And pickup any gossip or even try the local "Ham" radio users,
Just throwing a few ideas into the ring so to speak

Chinese guns en-route to Iran via Mr Mugabe?

Caught an article this morning that provides a very interesting background to this story.

www.iol.co.za... vn20100518042600864C746894

Colly said: "I don't think people really know what's going past our coast all the time. There's a constant stream of broken down vessels being towed past. Everything from North America and West Africa and other countries pass our coast to the Indian scrapyard. If the scrap is worth a lot, the owner will spend money on getting a decent tug to tow it. But a tug is $15 000 to $20 000 a day and it takes a month or two to get there.

"Fly-by-night scrap merchant entrepreneurs buy these vessels for next to nothing and put crew on them who have the impossible task to get the broken ships to the east. They don't have insurance and they all pass our coast," he said. When something went wrong and Samsa contacted the owners, "all you've got is a shadowy character on the other end of a phone".

reply to post by harryhaller

Watched a program on discovery called "Salvage code red", No mean feet towing a dead weight vessel especially if it s gonna take a couple of months to reach the scrapie's,
There must be big money in it for the crews to put their lives on the line like this,
Not to mention sub contracted work from government departments, Who knows whats in the holds ??

According to the article, the ship was observed "being pushed sideways". Maybe it was a gigantic squid? Btw, It's not the first time a ship mysteriously vanish in these waters. Remember Jupiter 6 five years ago?

Jupiter 6 Mysteriously Vanishes With Crew While Towing Ship

reply to post by Hellmutt


Interesting, that's the first time I have heard of the Jupiter 6. Any follow-ups to it?

Thank you Helmutt! I've just learned something new today!!

Ok, i had thought that the Jupiter 6 went missing in the Atlantic, but apparently not! Also on the east coast. We're too far south for pirates i would think?

But ok. We hav 2 ships that have mysteriously disappeared in the same area of ocean, although i still get the impression there were several hundred miles between the 2 points? Difficult to be sure of that though, since the tugs position wasn't confirmed?

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


I got a message back from the NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute):

Hello Dan,

According to the eye-witnesses this was a fishing trawler of sorts with movement/people on-board.

Our conclusion is that the ship most probably had engine and radio communication failure, fired a flare, got engines started and headed out to sea (to safer water as swell was 7 metres plus) prior to the arrival of the air force/nsri.

Many thanks,

Craig Lambinon
NSRI Communications

So basically, they have concluded there is nothing more to the story.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Most kind of you to share this.

Yes, if i'm a captain in those waters and my engines die, i'll poop myself. Then of course get as far away from the rocks as possible.
Still doesn't explain apparent radio silence, or even it's reason for being so lose to land.

I think we can close this one - somehow I don't think there will be anymore developments.