British woman drowns at sea, crew including dog survive

A British woman died at sea after the yacht she was sailing on with her partner, another crewman and a dog, started taking on water along the east coast.

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said a bulk carrier was diverted by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre on Sunday to assist with the rescue of the crew and the dog.

"The crew of the bulk carrier rescued the dog and the yachtsmen.

"Medical staff had performed CPR on the woman. Sadly despite the extensive CPR efforts the woman was declared deceased," said Lambinon.

"Arrangements were made with NSRI Durban to rendezvous with the bulk carrier this morning [Tuesday] to transfer two yachtsmen one from Durban and one from Cape Town, their dog and sadly to recover the body of the British woman - the partner of one of the yachtsmen."

The two men and the dog were not injured in the incident.

An NSRI crew, accompanied by police search and rescue and a Netcare representative transferred the surviving crew members, the dog and woman’s body to a vessel.

They were taken to NSRI Durban where the woman’s body was released to forensic pathology services while the survivors were reunited with family.