Gaeme Harding, NSRI Knysna station commander, said:
At 11h38 (Tuesday, 20th November) NSRI Knysna volunteer sea rescue duty crew were activated following reports of a woman injured after allegedly falling overboard a charter boat which was underway in the Knysna Heads, Knysna.
It appears that the female, 52, from Mumbai, India, on holiday in South Africa with family, while on a cruise aboard the local commercial charter boat MOONRAKER, a 9 meter rigid inflatable craft, had fallen overboard while the boat was underway.
It is not known to NSRI what caused the female to go overboard.
According to eye-witnesses the crew of the charter boat were unable to recover the female back onto the boat and the skipper of the charter boat then jumped into the water to assist the female.
The yacht HEAD EXPLORER, owned by the Featherbed Company, which we believe were in the area at the time, then came alongside to assist and the female was able to be recovered onto the 'sugar scoop' of the yacht HEAD EXPLORER and the skipper of HEAD EXPLORER called NSRI for assistance.
The yacht HEAD EXPLORER then made her way towards Knysna Harbour with the female being held securely by crew members while she lay on the Sugar Scoop.
The charter boat MOONRAKER accompanied the yacht to Port.
Our NSRI Knysna volunteer sea rescue duty crew members met up with the yacht as they docked and NSRI medics found the female to have a suspected fractured right humerus and she was stabilized on-scene by NSRI medics.
An ER24 ambulance was summoned and the patient has been transported to hospital in a stable condition.
Hospital staff have confirmed that the patient has fractured her right humerus in three places and is due to undergo surgery.
SAMSA (The South African Maritime Safety Authority) have served an immediate prohibition notice on the charter boat MOONRAKER pending an investigation.
-ENDS-
Released by:
Craig Lambinon
Sea Rescue Communications
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