SAS Manthantisi was at right place at wrong time - SA Navy's Lobese
SA Navy chief, Monde Lobese, has presented the findings of a board of inquiry into the tragic incident on the SAS Manthatisi submarine.
FILE: The SA Navy hosted a combined memorial service for Lieutenant-Commander Gillian Hector, Master Warrant Officer William Mathipa and Warrant Officer Mokwapa Mojela at the Wynberg Military Indoor Sport Complex on 27 September 2023. The three submariners lost their lives while doing a vertical transfer on the SAS Manthatisi submarine. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/EWN
CAPE TOWN - SA Navy chief, Monde Lobese, has presented the findings of a board of inquiry into the tragic incident on the SAS Manthatisi submarine.
The incident led to the deaths of Lieutenant-Commander Gillian Hector, Master Warrant Officer William Mathipa and Warrant Officer Mokwapa Mojela in rough seas near Kommetjie on 20 September last year.
The submariners were conducting a vertical transfer from the submarine involving an SA Air Force helicopter when high waves swept the seven crew out to sea.
Lobese this week briefed the minister of defence, military veterans, and the families of the late submariners.
The navy chief said that even if all of the lessons learnt had been implemented and all corrective actions had been done prior to this evolution, there was simply no way to ensure that the outcome would have been different.
Lobese said that the SAS Manthantisi crew were heroes, who followed their code of conduct and carried out their mission with courage, even at the risk of their own lives.
He said that the submarine was simply at the right place at the wrong time, when Mother Nature had the final word.