A Cape Town fisherman who went missing after he fell overboard from a crayfish boat is presumed to have drowned.
|||Cape Town - A Cape Town fisherman who went missing after he fell overboard from a crayfish boat on Friday is presumed to have drowned, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
“Despite an extensive search no sign of missing fisherman Lucas van Wyk, 33, of Steenberg, Cape Town, has been found,” NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said.
“Shore, air and sea searches throughout today have revealed no sign of the missing fisherman.”
Van Wyk went missing earlier in the day from a crayfish boat near the Cape Point Nature Reserve.
He was retrieving nets close to the shore when its propellers became entangled with kelp. While trying to dislodge the kelp, a wave side-swiped the boat and swamped it, causing van Wyk to fall overboard.
The boat's crew only noticed the man's absence when they had recovered from the near capsizing.
Van Wyk's lifejacket was found earlier in the day during the search.
Lambinon said the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) rangers were conducting a shore patrol at last light on Friday.
NSRI Kommetjie, Police Sea Borderline and the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries would continue searches at sea and shore patrols at first light on Saturday.
Searches would continue over the weekend and into next week in an effort to retrieve van Wyk's body, said Lambinon. - Sapa