The four boat tour operators in Hout Bay were all operating on Saturday - the day the pleasure craft Miroshga capsized.
|||Cape Town -
The four boat tour operators in Hout Bay that offer trips to Duiker Island were all operating on Saturday – the day the pleasure craft Miroshga capsized with loss of life.
On Monday, Brenda Owen, owner of Nauticat Charters, which runs trips to Duiker Island, said her vessel had been at Duiker Island when Miroshga got into trouble.
“As far as the weather goes, it was safe to go out… It was a bit windy, but okay to go out,” she said.
Ken Evans, whose craft Calypso was running on Saturday, said other than a slight swell, the weather had been “nothing out of the ordinary”.
Both he and Owen said a third vessel from Drumbeat Charters had also operated on Saturday, as had Miroshga.
These four vessels were from the four operators based at Hout Bay harbour that run trips to and from Duiker Island.
On Monday, Sean Amor, skipper of Extravagence which had also been at sea on Saturday, said the weather had been fine and at the time of the accident there had been no big swells.
He said Miroshga got into trouble in an area known as the “washing machine” – given this name because of the choppy water.
Miroshga capsized near Duiker Island on Saturday with 39 people, four of them crew members, on board.
Two people, Peter Philip Hyett, 64, from the UK, and crew member John Roberts, 37, of Hout Bay, died.
On Monday, asked if the incident would deter people from going on boat trips, Evans replied: “Aircraft crash and people don’t stop flying.”
Owen said a day after the accident, Nauticat Charters had run seven trips throughout the day and most had been full.
A number of passengers had called and asked about the Miroshga incident and how safe the Duiker Island trip was.
“People are still booking,” Owen said.
She said customers who had pre-booked trips to Duiker Island might call to cancel.
“I’m sure it’s going to have a ripple effect… We’ll probably know in two weeks’ time.”
On Monday, all the charter companies at Hout Bay harbour were closed due to strong winds.
Employees at Southern Ambition Marine Safaris, which owns the Miroshga, at first declined to speak to the Cape Times, but then confirmed they were no longer taking bookings for any trips.
“We’re waiting on the investigation,” one employee said, referring to a probe into the accident by the SA Maritime Safety Authority and police.
On Monday,.during a press briefing, Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Alan Winde referred to Miroshga’s capsizing.
“This is a very unfortunate incident and it has, to some extent, dented our image. The rescue services were tremendous. Some international press criticised us, but we turned around a situation that could have been so much worse.”
He conveyed his condolences to Hyett and Roberts and asked for a minute’s silence.
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Cape Times