Creecy: Survivors of fishing boat tragedy & families of missing fishermen being offered support
A fishing vessel sank off the Hout Bay coast on Friday with 20 crew members on board and only nine survived.
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy. Picture: @environmentza/X
CAPE TOWN - Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy said that support was being offered to the families of the 11 fishermen and survivors of a boat tragedy in Cape Town.
A fishing vessel sank off the Hout Bay coast on Friday with 20 crew members on board and only nine survived.
After an extensive search, the rescue operation was called off on Sunday due to difficulties reaching the vessel.
Authorities said the vessel sank 350 metres underwater, making it difficult for divers.
Creecy said that the families were devasted.
"You would understand that to be facing a situation of loss it terrible. But to be facing a situation of loss where there's no confirmation of the deceased in terms of a body, it's an enormously difficult situation."
All 20 crew members were permanently employed by Sea Harvest, and an investigation to determine the cause of the accident is underway. pic.twitter.com/9glOVMsg9e
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 22, 2024
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy briefed the media on her engagement with the families of 11 fishermen who went missing off the Hout Bay coast in Cape Town on Friday. Creecy says the families are shattered and want closure NN pic.twitter.com/ym5NNyXbio
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 22, 2024
The search for the missing fishermen was called off on Sunday. Mbanjwa says the union and the surviving fishermen believe this was done prematurely pic.twitter.com/KXdaqZvxu6
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 22, 2024