A rescue official calls out to colleagues aboard a stranded Taiwanese fishing trawler which ran aground in thick fog off Cape Town's popular Clifton beach, May 12, 2012. Image by: MIKE HUTCHINGS / REUTERS
Attempts to salvage a 50 metre fishing trawler that ran aground at First Beach, Clifton, would resume at 4pm on Sunday, the Cape Town disaster risk management centre said.
"The operation will proceed at 4pm this afternoon to balance the fuel load on board," said spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.
The Eihatsu Maru long line fishing vessel, a Japanese ship, ran aground at 5.15am on Saturday in thick fog.
In total, 90 tons of diesel and 50 tons of fish were on board the trawler, Solomons-Johannes said.
The cause of the ship's grounding had not been established. Its engines remained in working order and generators continued to work.
It had not been damaged by the stranding.
A tug boat was sent from Simonstown to tow the boat on Saturday night, but the tow rope snapped as the trawler proved too heavy.
Marine engineers would fit a metal plate to the ship to enable it to be tugged, Solomons-Johannes said.
Inflatable barriers had been deployed around the ship to prevent a possible oil spill.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) confirmed that the crew members of the trawler were rescued by Saturday afternoon.
"Two NSRI rescue swimmers were placed onboard the vessel and Taiwanese consulate staff and the ships agent assisted the NSRI with language interpretations between the... crew and NSRI rescuers," spokesman Craig Lambinon said.
Of the 28 Taiwanese crew members and dog on board, 19 were evacuated. The dog remained on board at the insistence of the captain, the animal's owner.
The remaining crew members and the captain were required to stay on board under international maritime law, said Solomons-Johannes.
- TIMES LIVE
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