NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 1198
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: WEDNESDAY, 07 SEPTEMBER 2011
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 15 APRIL 2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 11 â 2011)
Mr D C Ross (DA) asked the Minister of Transport:
(1) In respect of the past three financial years for which information is
available, (a) how many reports regarding safety issues have been
compiled by the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) and (b) what is
the (i) theme and (ii) title of each report;
(2) whether any of these reports deal with or have been compiled as a
result of an investigation; if so, (a) which reports, (b) what is the
nature of each investigation and (c) what are the main (i) findings
and (ii) recommendations of each investigation;
(3) whether his department acted upon any of the recommendations made in
each report that resulted from an investigation; if not, why not; if
so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether any (a) arrests and (b) prosecutions have been made as a
result of these investigations; if not, why not; if so, what are the
relevant details in each case? NW133E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
(1) (a) Of the major incident reports that the South African Maritime
Safety Authority (SAMSA) attended to, the major ones are three
reports.
(b) (i)
The theme of all the reports is based on establishing facts relating
to accidents that happened in so far as finding answers to
the following questions are concerned:
⢠What happened?
⢠How did it happen?
⢠Why did it happen?
⢠What can be done to prevent similar incidents from happening in the
future?
(ii) Title of each report:
⪠âEnquiry into the Sinking of Motor Fishing Vessel (MFV) Kingfisher.â
⪠âReport of the Incident Which Led to the Death of Three Passengers
on Board of the Shark Cage Diving Vessel, SHARK TEAM.â
⪠âCapsize of a Barge at Barham Bay, Emalahleni, (Witbank)â19th
November 2010: Report (in terms of section 265 of the Merchant
Shipping, 1951, Act 57 of 1951) (hereinafter referred to as the Act)
on Preliminary Enquiry Held in Terms of section 264 of the Act.â
(2) (a) All the reports deal with and were compiled as a result of
investigations.
(b) The nature of all the investigations listed above was to
establish facts by answering questions listed in (1) (b) above.
(i) and (ii)
Findings of the âEnquiry into the Sinking of Motor Fishing Vessel
Kingfisherâ:
⢠The vessel was not using appropriate navigation charts for that coast
line therefore contravened Regulation 5 of the Merchant Shipping
(Carriage of Charts and Nautical Publications) Regulations, 2002.
This is believed to be the primary cause of the accident as the
skipper navigated in an area noted on the chart as dangerous in the
prevailing weather conditions;
⢠The skipper failed to exercise prudent seamanship and left the area
prior to the onset of a known deterioration in the weather conditions;
⢠The ship owner failed to conduct quarterly safety audits, therefore
contravened regulation 39A of the Maritime Occupational Safety
Regulations, 1994; and
⢠The ship owner failed to provide SAMSA with crew medical examination
certificates, therefore in contravened of section 101 of the Merchant
Shipping Act, 1951.
A recommendation relating to the above findings was made to the
Minister of Transport based on Section 266 of the Merchant Shipping
Act, 1951 which empowers the Minister to convene a Court of Marine
Enquiry whenever an allegation of incompetency or misconduct has
been made against the owner, master or crew member of the vessel;
when a vessel has been lost, abandoned or stranded; when an
accident has occurred on board or such vessel has been damaged or
caused damage to another vessel; or when loss of life or serious
injury to any person has occurred on board.
Findings relating to the Report of Death on the Shark Cage Diving
Vessel were:
⢠The vesselâs cabin and viewing deck were missing after it was
recovered, but the hull appeared undamaged.
⢠Witnesses confirmed that the vessel had been struck by a large wave
while it was anchored.
⢠There appears to have been confusion as to the number of passengers
on board and how many had been recovered or how many were missing
(only a booking list was available).
⢠The vessel had been operating in the designated area for such
operation, as defined by the Marine and Coastal Management (MCM), and
had the appropriate permit issued by MCM.
⢠Information exists in the Admiralty Publication (Marinerâs Handbook),
which quotes from Africa Pilot Volume III publication that ships have
reported encountering abnormal waves in the area.
⢠The crew on board the vessel did not have the appropriate training to
work on board, except the skipper who had an expired interim skipperâs
certificate of competency.
⢠Owners and skippers engaged in such operations stated that passengers
sometimes put them under pressure to go to sea because of not wanting
to miss such a âlifetimeâ opportunity of shark cage diving.
⢠The vessel was ultimately repaired and issued with the appropriate
local general safety certificate to resume operations.
Recommendations were made to the Minister for the convening of a Court
of Marine Inquiry. Further findings relating to the above findings
were:
⪠Shark cage diving by its very nature can be considered as a risky
venture. Passengers need to be fully briefed of what the trip will
involve and all associated dangers and risks before boarding the
vessel. This briefing should include sea sickness, poor weather and
sea conditions, procedures in the event of an emergency (medical and
other) and a practical lifejacket demonstration. Once passengers have
been informed they should have the option of not continuing with the
trip should they wish.
⪠Following on with the risks involved with shark cage diving owners
need to examine their own operations and put in place control measures
to reduce the likelihood of incidents and have procedures in place
covering various scenarios. Examples of incidents could be: medical
emergency involving a passenger, capsize during exiting a launch site,
shark bite, emergency transfer of passengers at sea, inoperable
engines, vessel drifting onto a lee shore, fire during refueling etc.
Emergency services should be informed of these procedures.
o A passenger and crew list must be left with the harbor
controller at the launch site prior to departure of each vessel.
This list will then be close at hand should it be required in
an emergency. This list must contain the name of the vessel and
names of all passengers and crew, the intended area of operation
and the expected times of departure and arrival. The primary
purpose of this list is for use in an emergency, as such the
layout and writing must be clear and legible. This requirement
is as per Merchant Shipping (national Small Vessels Safety)
Regulations of 2007, as amended, and Marine Notice 7 of 2008.
o Shark cage diving vessels must be manned by suitably trained
personnel. Some operators have volunteer programmes whereby
young people learn about sharks and assist with the shark cage
diving operation. Volunteers must not be used in place of crew
unless they have been properly trained and fulfill all the
requirements for crew as stated in the Merchant Shipping
(National Small Vessels Safety) Regulations of 2007, as amended.
Volunteers, if carried and not complying with these regulatory
requirement,s should be considered as passengers.
o Sea conditions on the Cape South Coast are seldom flat and calm,
and television and internet weather forecasts may not always be
correct. Owners and skippers of shark cage diving vessels
should be aware that there are services available which can be
area and operation specific. These services may be able to
trigger warnings of large swell and wave focusing.
Findings of the report relating to âCapsize of a Barge at Barham Bayâ:
⢠The accreditation issued by SAMSA to the Authorised Agency had
expired and accordingly it was not accredited as an Authorised
Agency, either at the time when the barge was issued with a
Certificate of Fitness (COF), or at the time of the casualty.
⢠Leaving aside the accreditation issue, the Authorised Agency
unlawfully issued the COF in contravention of the Merchant
Shipping (Small Vessels Safety) Regulations 2007 (Regulations)
and Marine Notice 13 of 2007, insofar as the vessel was
operating as a commercial vessel, the number of passengers
certified exceeded twelve, and the length of the barge exceeded
nine metres.
⢠The Agencyâs inspector wrongfully issued the provisional COF.
⢠The Agencyâs inspector had limited or no knowledge of the
Regulations or Marine Notice 13 of 2007.
⢠Information and updates conveyed by the Agency to its
inspectors are open to scrutiny.
⢠The Agencyâs procedures for certification and registration of
vessels are open to criticism.
⢠The Agencyâs procedures for appointing inspectors are open to
scrutiny.
⢠The barge did not have a valid COF
⢠The owner of the barge, in breach of Regulation 14 of the
Merchant Shipping (Small Vessels Safety) Regulations, failed to
ensure that the barge was operated by a skipper holding a valid
Certificate of Competency (CoC) or that it was crewed by a
competent crew.
⢠The skipper of the barge did not have any or any valid CoC in
terms of the Regulations.
⢠The barge was certificated for âSports and Recreationâ use, but
was used as a passenger vessel in violation of the Regulations.
⢠The barge was overloaded and unstable on any basis, even if the
COF had been valid in allowing 21 passengers.
⢠The owner of the barge apparently carried out modifications to
the barge since the barge was last surveyed and failed to have
his COF re-issued.
⢠An expired fire extinguisher was found on board the barge
during the investigation.
⢠The barge crew failed to ascertain the seriousness of water
ingress, no efforts were apparently made to pump out water nor
were the effects of passengers on the top deck and free surface
appreciated by the crew.
⢠The crew was in any event apparently not competent to determine
the aspects of the vesselâs stability.
⢠SAMSA does not have a consistent system for carrying out ad hoc
audits on authorized agencies.
⢠SAMSA does not have a national database of small craft or full
national control of the system for accreditation of inspectors
and small craft.
The recommendation was as follows:
The panel respectively recommends that a Court of Marine Enquiry
should be convened as soon as possible in relation to the casualty,
but with terms of reference which include the following:
⪠A full and complete investigation of the casualty with a view
to determining the cause of the casualty - determining whether
any person, persons or organization are to blame directly or
indirectly for the casualty, and determining whether the
casualty could have been avoided.
⪠Investigate the licensing or certification of the barge and
the process in connection therewith, in particular that followed
by the Agency and its inspector.
⪠Investigate, generally, the accreditation process and auditing
of authorized agencies for the certification of small craft.
⪠Make recommendations for the sanctioning of any persons or
organizations, if appropriate, by SAMSA or otherwise.
⪠Make recommendations with regard to improving the regulatory
system for small craft in South Africa with a view to improving
safety.
(3) Two recommendations were made into the convening of the Court of
Marine Inquiry. These are findings relating to the enquiry into the
Sinking of Motor Fishing Vessel Kingfisher and findings relating to
the Report of Death on the Shark Cage Diving Vessel. Findings of the
report relating to Capsize of a Barge at Barham Bay is yet to be sent
to the Minister with a recommendation to convene a Court of Marine
Inquiry.
(4) No arrests or prosecutions have been made because the recommended
Court of Marine Enquiry has not taken place yet.
OTHER INCIDENTS COMPILED BY SAMSA
|DATE OF |LOCATION |NAME OF |POR |FLAG |TYPE |BRIEF DESCRIPTION |REPORT SUMMARY |
|INCIDENT | |VESSEL | | | | | |
|2008/12/22 |West of Oyster|Kingfisher|Cape Town|RSA |Fishing |Vessel in very bad seas |Recommendation |
| |Bay, Eastern | | | |Vessel |and heading east for a lee|given to the |
| |Cape | | | | |at St Francis Bay is |Department of |
| | | | | | |believed to have been |Transport (DoT) |
| | | | | | |swamped. She capsized and|to set up a Court|
| | | | | | |sank west of Oyster Bay. |of Marine Enquiry|
| | | | | | |Total crew on Board was |due to an |
| | | | | | |19. Five survivors, 14 |allegation of |
| | | | | | |deceased of which nine |misconduct by the|
| | | | | | |bodies have not been |skipper. |
| | | | | | |found. | |
|2009/01/17 |North East of |Twiggy |Cape Town|RSA |Small | |No further |
| |Robben Island | | | |vessel |Vessel capsized, which |action. |
| | | | | | |lead to the death of a | |
| | | | | | |crewman. | |
|2009/10/26 |Just outside |Mandi | |Â |Fishing |The vessel capsized with |Need to review |
| |Mossel Bay | | | |vessel |six crewmen on board. |the use of |
| |Harbour | | | | |Only one crewman was |warning systems |
| | | | | | |rescued, four crewmen |for fishing |
| | | | | | |drowned and their bodies |vessels. This is|
| | | |Â | | |have been recovered - one |being addressed |
| | | | | | |crewman still missing. |with the fishing |
| | | | | | | |vessel safety |
| | | | | | | |program me. |
|2010/01/11 |Boknes Area |Pumula III|Port St |RSA |Fishing |The fisherman (Mr |No further |
| | | |Francis | |vessel |Cornelius Freek) fell |action. |
| | | | | | |overboard and drowned. | |
|2010/03/11 |Ramsgate â |Pro |Uvongo |RSA |Small |During surf training the |No further |
| |KwaZulu-Natal |Skipper | | |vessel |boat was hit by a wave and|action. |
| |lower south | | | | |it flipped over, throwing | |
| |coast | | | | |everyone overboard | |
| | | | | | |resulting in one death. | |
|2010/03/23 |At sea |Beatrice |Cape Town|RSA |Fishing |Man lost overboard whilst |No further |
| | |Marine | | |vessel |at sea. |action. |
|2010/05/21 |Rocky Bay |Adventurer|Rocky Bay|RSA |Small |Vessel was hit by a wave |No further |
| | | | | |vessel |and capsized, resulting in|action. |
| | | | | | |the drowning of the | |
| | | | | | |skipper. | |
|2010/11/13 |St Michaelâs |Unknown |Unknown |- |Canoe |Hired canoe capsized while|Investigation |
| |Lagoon | | | | |paddling in St Michaelâs |underway. |
| | | | | | |lagoon, resulting in the | |
| | | | | | |death of three children. | |
|2010/11/19 |Witbank Dam |Unknown |Unknown |- |Double |Vessel capsized due to |Investigation |
| | | | | |decker |overloading, resulting in |completed. |
| | | | | |leisure |the death of six people. |Recommendation to|
| | | | | |boat |The vessel was not |form a Court of |
| | | | | | |properly licensed. |marine Enquiry. |
|2010/12/25 |Hartenbos Dam |Frankie |Mossel |RSA |Pleasure |Drowning occurred |No further |
| |- Mossel Bay |(Baronett)|Bay | |craft |resulting in the death of |action. |
| | | | | | |two people. | |