NSRI CEO, Ian Wienburg, is proud to announce that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has advised us that sea rescue volunteers Attie Gunter, Leon Pretorius and Quentin Diener, of NSRI Station 33 Witsand, will receive an award at the prestigious IMO awards ceremony at the IMO Headquarters in London, on Monday, 26 November 2012, in recognition of their involvement in the rescue operation of four crewmen from the yacht "Gulliver" on Wednesday, 15 June, 2011.
NSRI will put out a special appeal to our kind hearted donors who may have surplus frequent flier miles (enough to trade in for a return ticket to London) which they would like to "gift" to one of these three men.
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The 2012 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea will be awarded to:
Sergeant Janick Gilbert (posthumously), Master Corporal Max Lahaye-Lemay and Master Corporal Marco Journeyman, crew members of the 424 (Transport and Rescue) Squadron in Trenton, Royal Canadian Air Force, nominated by the Government of Canada.
Mr. César Flores Flores, rescue swimmer, aerial detachment from Puerto Montt, Fifth Naval Zone, Chilean Navy, as nominated by the Government of Chile.
The 2012 IMO Certificates of Commendation in recognition of meritorious services rendered will be awarded to the following nominees:
· Mr. Wang Haijie, diver of the rescue vessel Bei Hai Jiu 116, Beihai Rescue Bureau, nominated by China, for rescuing four fishermen trapped under water in the cabin of the capsized fishing vessel Liao Dan Yu 26628;
· The crew of the rescue ship Dong Hai Jiu 116, Donghai Rescue Bureau, nominated by China, for saving the 12 crew members of the stranded container ship Jade in very difficult weather conditions, capsizing in the process;
· Coxswain Adrian Johannes Gunter, Crewman Leon Pretorius and Crewman Quentin Diener, volunteer crewmen of the rescue boat Queenie Paine, Station 33, Witsand, National Sea Rescue Institute of South Africa, nominated by South Africa, for the risky search and rescue operation of the four crew members of the catamaran yacht “Gulliver“, in dangerous weather conditions.
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On hearing of this international award Greg West, one of the survivors on the yacht Gulliver, said: “Not a day goes by without them being in my thoughts and I know my fellow crew members are the same. We often talk about that night & the incredible bravery your three guys displayed in persisting with the rescue in those conditions.”
“As I sit here at home now, the wind is howling & the sea is a complete mess and I can’t help but compare the conditions to those that we faced. That they were willing to put their lives on the line that night will remain one of the high points in my life."
PICTURES RELATED TO THIS ARE AVAILABLE FOR MEDIA ON WWW.NSRI.ORG.ZA
-ENDS-
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The two original NSRI Media releases of the rescue operation of "Gulliver" follows…..
NSRI - SEA RESCUE - STATION 33 Witsand:
Update: Sea Rescue – Witsand – Wednesday, 15 June, 2011: Crew released from hospital:
The crew of Gulliver, skipper Greg West, 60, his crew Frans Sprung, 76, Shaun Kennedy, 34, (all 3 from St Francis Bay) and Mike Morck, 64, from Knysna, have been released from hospital (Thursday – 16/06) and are to return home.
They had been sailing from Langebaan to Knysna and were attempting to outrun the weather, trying to reach Mossel Bay, when a sudden wind squall capsized their yacht at approximately 13h30 off-shore of Cape Infanta yesterday (15/06).
An emergency EPIRB (Emergency Distress Radio Beacon) was activated by them at around 15h00 but the EPIRB did not transmit the name of the yacht and it was only later in the day, on the insistence of the skippers wife, who convinced authorities that the yacht was missing in the estimated vicinity Cape Infanta, and only later in the day that two and two was put together to suspect that the EPIRB was coming from the yacht Gulliver based on information provided by the skippers wife and based on the last known position of the yacht (before radio and cellphone contact had been lost with the yacht earlier in the day).
After it became clear that the EPIRB was most likely being transmitted from the stricken yacht a full-scale search and rescue operation was launched.
The crew of Gulliver also set off red distress flares during the afternoon but it remains certain that none of the red distress flares were observed.
The capsized yacht is believed to be adrift on the ocean and Maritime Navigational warnings remain in place.
Sea Rescue – Witsand – Wednesday, 15 June, 2011: Yacht capsizes at sea in gale force storm.
Attie Gunter, NSRI Witsand station commander, said:
"At 19h22 (Wednesday - 15/06) NSRI Witsand volunteers were activated following reports of a yacht in unknown difficulties and possibly missing off-shore of Cape Infanta with 4 crewmen onboard.
"The wife of the skipper Greg West, from Knysna, reported to an NSRI Port Elizabeth volunteer that the yacht Gulliver with skipper Greg West, and his crew Frans Sprung, Mike Morck and Shaun Kennedy (spelling of names not confirmed by NSRI) were sailing in the direction of Cape Town and were known to have passed Mossel Bay but cellphone contact with the yacht had been lost since lunchtime and all efforts to raise the yacht had failed.
"Maritime Radio Services had been trying to get into contact with the yacht by VHF Radio and the NSRI Port Elizabeth volunteer alerted NSRI Mossel Bay to make enquiries into what assistance the NSRI could offer in the search for (what was at this stage believed to be) a missing yacht. In the mean time NSRI Still Bay, NSRI Witsand and NSRI Agulhas were all placed on high alert as the gravity of the situation surrounding the uncertainty to the fate of the yacht and her crew escalated as the afternoon drew on.
"Then it was confirmed that an EPIRB (an Emergency Distress Radio Beacon), normally activated manually or when immersed in water, was intercepted by an international monitoring Maritime Search and Rescue agency and they had alerted South African Maritime Search and Rescue informing that the emergency distress beacon belonging to the Knysna yacht Gulliver was emitting the Emergency Distress Signal some 12 nautical miles off-shore of Cape Infanta.
"It was suspected at this stage that the yacht had either capsized or sustained severe damage and the fate of the 4 crewmen was not known.
"On learning of the EPIRB activation it was decided that NSRI Witsand (the closest sea rescue station to the EPIRB transmission) would launch our 5.5 meter Rigid Inflatable rescue craft Queenie Payne to respond to the position of the EPIRB to investigate while NSRI Still Bay would send a relief crew to our rescue base in Witsand to launch our 4.5 meter sea rescue craft Falcon Rescuer as back-up while NSRI Agulhas was placed on high alert. (Falcon Rescuer was in fact not launched but only placed on alert).
"Metro EMS and the SA Police Service were activated to respond to our rescue base in Witsand to stand-by.
"NSRI Witsand launched our sea rescue craft Queenie Payne at 19h28 with three rescue crew onboard and we negotiated up to 5 meter rough sea swells and a gusting up to 60 knot gale force wind in very dark conditions reaching the general location of the EPIRB transmission and when we reached the general vicinity of where the EPIRB was transmitting we attempted to call the casualty yacht on VHF radio but there remained no response.
"We then set off an illuminating flare and after sending up the flare we noticed a small flashing (flickering) light just over one nautical mile away from us and we motored towards the flickering light.
"On reaching the flickering light (at around 23h00) we found the upturned (capsized) hull of the yacht Gulliver (a catamaran) and all 4 crewmen were found in a life-raft which they had tied to the capsized hull of their yacht. The men told us that their yacht had been capsized by a sudden extremely strong wind squall at around 13h30 while they were motor sailing and they had manually set off their EPIRB which had required Shaun Kennedy to swim under the yacht to release the EPIRB. They had also all been huddled on the upturned hull of the yacht before releasing the life-raft later in the day – which is believed to have also required swimming under the yacht to release the life-raft.
They explained that at some stage they had managed to activate the life-raft and they used the life-raft fearing the yacht may sink.
"The 4 men were suffering hypothermia and shock (only one of the men was seriously hypothermic) and we took them onto our sea rescue craft and began the difficult task of motoring back towards shore against extremely heavy sea swells and winds and it soon became evident that our 3 rescue crew and the 4 casualty crew were too heavy for our sea rescue craft Queenie Payne.
"At that stage NSRI Agulhas were activated to come to assist us and they launched their 8.5 meter rigid inflatable sea rescue craft Vodacom Rescuer VII and two fishing trawlers that were in the area were requested to be on the lookout for our sea rescue craft. At this stage we were limping back towards shore in huge sea conditions and extremely strong winds whipping sea spray against any exposed skin and to top it all we were in a very overweight sea rescue craft but just managing to make headway.
"But at around 01h00 we limped into Witsand aboard Queenie Payne (after not needing any assistance) and all 4 men have been transported to hospital by Metro EMS ambulance for treatment for hypothermia. All 4 men are in stable conditions and we suspect that they will be released from hospital shortly."
A Maritime Navigational warning of the upturned hull of the yacht floating and adrift some 12 nautical miles off-shore of Cape Infanta is broadcast and the fate of the capsized yacht is not known. The NSRI suspect that the owners will attempt salvage efforts.
SAMSA (The South African Maritime Safety Authority) will investigate the incident as per standard procedure.
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Released by:
Craig Lambinon
Sea Rescue Communications
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