Dramatic Hout Bay rescue

'IT happened fast, suddenly I was swimming. I struggled, I thought I was going to die."

This was the testimony of a Swedish survivor of the dramatic sea rescue near Hout Bay, Cape Town, yesterday, after a pleasure boat sank at about 3pm.

By nightfall one person, a UK tourist, was confirmed dead and a crew member from Hout Bay was still missing.

The vessel was on its way back from a trip to view seals and whales when it apparently struck something in the water. Other boats rushed to the scene to give assistance.

Three people were rescued by police divers from beneath the hull of the capsized boat, said National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon.

"At this stage we suspect the boat hit something in the water. She started filling with water and capsized," Lambinon said.

Most of the survivors were injured, he said, some of them seriously, and were taken to hospital. The injured included foreign tourists.

Although exact details of the accident remain unclear, the Sunday Times has established that the craft was the Miroshga, owned by Hout Bay-based company Hangberg Boat Charters.

Speaking from the NSRI office late yesterday, boat skipper and co-owner Gregg Louw said he was devastated.

The trip was a "whale and dolphin express tour".

It was promoted as: "The best-value boat-based whale-watching experience in the Cape. Discover Humpbacks, Southern Rights, Bryde whales and schools of dolphins."

Granville Bauman, who lives near Hout Bay harbour, said: "I know this boat, it goes out daily for whale-watching. It was well maintained. My family and I often went on it for sunset cruises. I really can't say what happened."

Tourists looked on from the patio at the Lookout Deck Restaurant as rescue workers covered shivering survivors on stretchers with blankets.

Wearing only underwear and wrapped in a blanket, the Swedish survivor was comforted by members of the public, while shocked relatives gathered nearby.

One of the missing is John Roberts, a local tour guide. His mother, Elizabeth, and family sobbed at the NSRI office in Hout Bay last night.

Western Cape tourism and economic development MEC Alan Winde was among those gathered in Hout Bay to offer condolences to those affected.

He said: "The last two survivors, who have just come ashore, have been in the water for four and a half hours - that water was pretty cold. They were trapped under the boat."

Winde also praised the efforts of rescue workers and members of the public who rushed to help.

"The people involved from the public and disaster management have been managing to turn something that could have been a major disaster around. But obviously any loss of life or injury is terrible," he said.

The South African Maritime Authority would conduct a full inquiry to ensure that all safety regulations had been adhered to, he said. The inquiry will establish whether the boat was registered to carry this number.

Michelle Norris, a spokeswoman for Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in the Cape Town CBD, confirmed last night that a couple who survived the accident had been seen by the hospital's doctors.

"They are a local couple," she said. "One of them was treated and discharged. The other has been admitted."

Victoria Hospital in Wynberg confirmed treating seven casualties.

City Disaster Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said: "Throughout the afternoon we recovered 37 people.

"There were lots of foreigners on the tour," he said.

The search was called off late yesterday.