Two ill crewmen evacuated from ships to Cape Town for treatment

Two ill crewmen had to be evacuated from ships and ferried by sea rescue craft to Cape Town for treatment on Saturday, the National Sea Rescue Institute said.

Tome Mendes, NSRI Table Bay duty coxswain, said the crew was placed on alert on Friday evening by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) to evacuate a crewman requiring medical care from a cargo ship approaching Cape Town which was expected to arrive in Table Bay in the early hours of Saturday.

During the night, it was learnt that a second ill crewman needed to be evacuated from a bulk carrier cargo ship that was also approaching Cape Town.     

On Saturday morning, the NSRI crew, accompanied by two Western Cape government EMS rescue paramedics, rendezvoused with the cargo ship 10 nautical miles offshore of the Port of Table Bay.

“Two NSRI rescue crew and an EMS rescue paramedic were transferred onto the ship and took over care of the patient, a 32-year-old Russian, from the ship’s medical crew.

“The patient was transferred onto our sea rescue craft using the Pilots ladder and, in the care of the EMS rescue paramedics, we brought him to our NSRI Table Bay rescue base at the V&A Waterfront and the patient has been transported to hospital by ER24 ambulance in a stable condition for further medical care,” said Mendes.

On Saturday evening, the NSRI crew, accompanied by two rescue paramedics, rendezvoused with the bulk carrier 10 nautical miles offshore of Green Point to evacuate an ill 22-year-old Filipino.

“The patient was transferred onto our sea rescue craft using a harness and high-angle rescue rig to lower the patient onto the deck of our sea rescue craft and in the care of the EMS rescue paramedic we brought him to our NSRI rescue base at the V&A Waterfront and the patient has been transported to hospital by ER24 ambulance in a stable condition for further medical care,” Mendes said.