VICTORIA, Seychelles (eTN) – In what has been termed a miraculous escape amongst the maritime fraternity on the Seychelles, was the three man crew of the ferry boat “Le Cerf” rescued after their vessel sank in a storm while returning to base in Mahe.

Owned by Mason’s Travel, one of the Seychelles leading DMC’s, the vessel was en route back from Denis Islands when it was struck by freak waves, damaging the hull and taking on water.

The experienced skipper sent an immediate SOS out which was picked up by the Seychelles coast guard, which dispatched a rescue mission immediately, but the crew was rescued by a Praslin based yacht, after being adrift for over 4 hours since abandoning their sinking vessel.

A source in Victoria attributed the rescue and safe return of the crew to the regular safety training and to presence of all required safety equipment like rafts, life vests and other items, that can help to survive a potential ship wreck.

The news spread fast when the vessel went into distress and as light faded, a number of leisure boats went out to sea to assist in the search, helped by the crew’s use of mobile phones. The skipper and his two deck hands used their phones to give status and position updates to the search teams which in turn used powerful search lights which were eventually spotted and used for the final rendezvous between rescuers and the crew afloat.

“Seychelles has in past years strengthened the capacity for search and rescue in our territorial waters, in part triggered by the piracy problem. In the process a lot of training was done, and this has benefited our maritime safety considerably. Earlier this year we guided a stricken cruise ship to port in Victoria when our coast guard ran a successful mission to bring that ship safely to port. As an island nation we depend on shipping and ferries to travel between the islands and our safety record must be maintained to protect our tourist industry. Hundreds of people travel every day between Mahe and Praslin and between Praslin and La Digue but also a lot of other islands and safety is the highest priority. Boats and ferries are inspected regularly and emergency drills and training are ongoing all the time,” commented a regular source from Victoria.

WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:

A source in Victoria attributed the rescue and safe return of the crew to the regular safety training and to presence of all required safety equipment like rafts, life vests and other items, that can help to survive a potential ship wreck.
In what has been termed a miraculous escape amongst the maritime fraternity on the Seychelles, was the three man crew of the ferry boat “Le Cerf” rescued after their vessel sank in a storm while returning to base in Mahe.
The skipper and his two deck hands used their phones to give status and position updates to the search teams which in turn used powerful search lights which were eventually spotted and used for the final rendezvous between rescuers and the crew afloat.