The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, will meet the families of the crew of the sunken hake deep-sea trawl vessel on Wednesday. Picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)
The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy is expected to meet the families of the Sea Harvest trawler that sank on Friday.
MFV Lepanto sank approximately 35 nautical miles offshore from Hout Bay on Friday, May 19.
Nine of the 20-man crew who were on-board the vessel were rescued and arrived safely on Friday night in Cape Town aboard the MFV Armana, another of the group’s vessels that was in the area at the time of the distress call.
Eleven people have presumed to have drowned.
According to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in the Western Cape, the continuous lack of sighting reports from the incident and the unfavourable weather led the MRCC to conclude the search and rescue effort.
Creecy is expected to meet with the families at Sea Harvest in Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town at 11am on Wednesday.
Sea Harvest CEO, Felix Ratheb, said: “Keeping our staff safe at sea is our key priority. As a company, we are devastated by this tragedy.
“We have been in ongoing contact with the families, with a senior team and a counsellor visiting each family of the missing men,” Ratheb said.
“We will continue to support them, as well as the rescued men and their families.”
IOL News
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