Boats collide in St. Francis Bay

Two boats have collided off St Francis Bay, in the Eastern Cape, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday.

No one was injured in Sunday's sea accident involving the fishing vessels Altar and Southern Star, NSRI station commander Marc May said in a statement.

"It appears that Southern Star had collided into the side of Altar, which suffered a hole... on the port side of the vessel," he said.

"There appeared to be minimal damage to Southern Star."

May said the Southern Star had to be rafted against Altar to prevent it from sinking. Water was pumped out of Altar while it moved towards the port of St Francis.

Eleven crew members from Altar were transported to shore, while the skipper and the first mate remained onboard.

"Our sea rescue craft towed the two vessels to just off-shore of Port St Francis. They cannot come into port rafted to each other, so they remain a few hundred metres off-shore," he said.

The hole was expected to be patched up on Monday before the boat was brought into the port for repairs.