Latest news with #Armana
Daily Maverick
21-07-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
South Africa's dangerous fishing vessels spark urgent safety audit
A shipping shakedown is imminent as the SA Maritime Safety Authority finds many ships in South Africa's national fleet are unsafe and in poor condition. Fishing remains one of the deadliest jobs on Earth – and in Africa, the fatality rate for fishers is estimated to be 12 times the global average. These disturbing figures were shared by South Africa's Deputy Minister of Transport Mkhuleko Hlengwa at the Cape Town launch of the marine safety audit. Since 1996, nearly 400 commercial fishing fatalities have been recorded in South Africa – more than half in the Western Cape – each representing a family, a community, and a promise lost to the ocean. The nationwide safety audit is under way – and the findings so far are as stark as the sea in winter: many of South Africa's fishing vessels are dangerously old, ill-maintained, illegally modified or simply operating outside basic safety norms. The consequences, as the deputy minister reminded all in attendance at the Cape Town docks launch, are counted not in rands and cents, but in coffins and missing bodies. For many, the horror of the 63‑year‑old fishing trawler Lepanto, which sank in just minutes on 17 May 2024 with the loss of 11 crew off Hout Bay, is still in their minds. Its sister ship, the Armana, caught fire only months later and was lost at sea. As Thandimfundo Mehlo, who led the SA Maritime Safety Authority's (Samsa's) audit team in Gqeberha noted: 'These tragedies were not freak accidents, but symptoms of a neglected system. 'We're sitting with fleets whose average age is 35 years, and many are over 60,' he said. 'Steel doesn't last forever. If owners don't maintain or modernise these ships, structural integrity is just a myth on paper – until it fails at sea.' His audit team in Gqeberha has spent months crawling into engine rooms and hulls, checking paperwork and examining vessels that should have been decommissioned decades ago. The findings? A pattern of expired certificates, makeshift repairs and shocking levels of noncompliance. Worse still, some owners have secretly modified vessels – extending decks or changing gear – to chase better catches in an overfished market. These shortcuts can destroy a vessel's stability, making it more vulnerable to capsizing or fire. 'Ship repair facilities are also in crisis,' Mehlo explained. 'There was a time, not long ago, when not one single dry dock was operational in this country. We were forced to keep giving exemptions, extending certificates so these rust buckets could keep working. It has come back to bite us.' When a door becomes a death sentence Even when a vessel's hull is sound, small oversights can kill. Principal Officer Captain Thembela Taboshe from Mossel Bay highlighted a detail so simple it seems absurd: open doors. 'When deck doors are left open in rough seas, one wave can flood a compartment, sink the ship and drown the crew in minutes,' Taboshe said. 'Basic drills, watertight doors – these are things that should be second nature. But we see again and again that the culture of safety is missing.' The audit revealed that safety drills are often tick-box exercises. Some crews cannot demonstrate evacuation procedures or don't even know how long it would take to get everyone off the vessel in an emergency. Navigation lights are out of place or blocked by deck clutter, leaving ships invisible at night. For fishers already battling brutal seas, these are risks they should not have to take. Lives are not bargaining chips Deputy Minister Hlengwa's speech cut through the defensive murmurs of industry guests in the room. Some worried about losing income while ships were inspected. But Hlengwa was unwavering: 'No profit is worth a life. Compliance is not optional. It is your responsibility.' He described the audit not as a tick-box exercise, but as 'a risk intervention in real time'. South Africa, as a signatory to the International Maritime Organization's 2012 Cape Town Agreement, is obliged to enforce stringent safety standards for fishing vessels – especially small vessels of under 10 metres, where capsizing is most common. For the new Government of National Unity, the audit was more than just policy housekeeping, said Hlengwa. It was about rebuilding trust between the people who fished for a living and the government that regulated them. 'Oversight is not just about identifying what is wrong,' he said, 'but about building a system that makes it right.' A sector under strain Fishing in South Africa is not just an industry. It is the lifeblood of coastal communities. It feeds a huge number of people and sustains tens of thousands of jobs. But the audit suggests a possibility that this backbone is buckling under the weight of neglect. Mehlo reminded the Cape Town gathering of this brutal reality: 'When we launched this audit in Port Elizabeth in March, we were clear that this was not ceremonial. Every hull and hatch involves a crew and a family waiting at home. Our job is to get those crews home safely.' He praised the cooperative spirit shown by some vessel owners – but warned that enforcement had to bite where persuasion failed. 'We will strengthen our oversight. We will leverage digital tracking tools, risk profiling and, if needed, we will take non-compliant vessels out of the water. This is not about punishing the industry. It's about protecting it.' What happens now? So far, more than 160 vessels have been inspected, about 10% of the national fleet. Inspections have spanned every major port: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay. The audit team's preliminary report reads like a catalogue of an industry stuck in another century: old ships, dodgy modifications, patchy crew training and inadequate safety equipment. But the audit is only the beginning. The findings will feed into a national Fishing Vessel Safety Improvement Plan. This plan, according to the deputy minister, must tackle three urgent fronts: A recapitalisation programme to retire or modernise unsafe ships; Mandatory annual training and random drills for crew and owners; and Tough consequences – including prosecution – for owners who put profit above people. Critically, the audit aims to embed a culture shift. As Samsa board leaders put it, safety is not an annual trade-off; it's the foundation of sustainability and accountability. Safety as a culture Mehlo believes this mindset is long overdue. He recalls a telling conversation in Port Elizabeth: 'We were doing a stability test on an old trawler. The owner shrugged and said, 'It's always been fine.' The same sentiment echoes down the coast. But the science doesn't lie. And the ocean doesn't negotiate.' Captain Taboshe said she hoped the message got through before another tragedy unfolded. 'Please, just close the doors,' she told the audience, half-joking, half-pleading. 'If your parents taught you to close the door behind you, you can do it at sea too.' It's a simple habit – but one that might mean the difference between a crew coming home or not coming home. The final w o rd Back on the windswept quay in Cape Town, the final word belonged to the deputy minister. Standing stoically in a light drizzle beside the towering, rust-streaked hull of a stern trawler, he called for a reckoning that went beyond any single audit. 'Every life lost at sea is one too many. Every unsafe vessel is a threat, not just to a crew, but to an entire community. Safety is not a privilege – it is a right. Let us not wait for another tragedy to remind us of our duties. Let us act now.' From the deckhand on a 40-year-old trawler to the boardroom where fishing quotas are decided, the message is clear: safety is a priority and it will be enforced. And if the Marine Safety Audit does what it promises, the next generation of fishers might finally set sail on ships that are safe enough to bring them home. DM
IOL News
24-06-2025
- IOL News
Nearly 400 commercial fishing deaths recorded in South Africa, says deputy minister
Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that earlier this year, the department directed the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to undertake a comprehensive, nationwide Fishing Vessel Safety Audit. Image: SAMSA/Supplied THE tragedy that befell 11 crew members of the 63-year-old vessel, MFV Lepanto when it capsized off Kommetjie last year and the incident involving its sister vessel, Armana, which went up in flames a few months later, were indictments of systems that must be fixed, says Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa. 'These events shook this nation—and rightly so. These are not isolated tragedies. They are warnings. They are calls to action that we can no longer afford to ignore,' Hlengwa said. He was speaking at a media engagement at the Cape Town Waterfront Jetty on Monday. Hlengwa said that earlier this year, the Department of Transport directed the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to undertake a comprehensive, nationwide audit, which started in Gqeberha and has reached every major fishing port in South Africa. SAMSA identified three key findings so far, including the age of the fleet, which compromises the structural integrity of the vessels. The vessels also have stability-related issues, whereby the ships' intake stability under different loading conditions starts to deteriorate, and one of the last findings is the inefficiency of safety management systems. In his address, Hlengwa said that since 1996, nearly 400 commercial fishing fatalities have been recorded in South Africa, with over half of them occurring in the Western Cape. 'Every life lost at sea is one too many. Every unsafe vessel is a threat not just to a crew, but to the entire social fabric of our coastal communities. Safety is not a privilege for the few. It is a right for all. 'Let us turn this moment into a movement—one that protects life, promotes dignity, and places South Africa at the forefront of maritime safety across the continent,' Hlengwa said. He said the audit was designed not only to evaluate compliance but to restore accountability, especially where lives were at risk. 'We are focusing on small vessels because the data shows they are the most vulnerable to capsizing, collision, and mechanical failure,' he said. Principal Audit Officer for SAMSA in Gqeberha, Thandi Mehlo, said that the age of the vessels causes issues of structural integrity as the 'steel can only survive a limited period at sea'. He highlighted challenges with ship repurpose redesigns, which occur without getting their approval, and also how there was a period a few years ago when not one single dry dock, which is used for vessel maintenance and repairs, was operational in the country. 'We had kept continuously granting exceptions to these vessels…and now if you keep doing that, it is going to come back to bite you, and it has come back to bite us," Mehlo said. 'We're sitting with a couple of these ship repair facilities that are managed by port authorities… and I have evidence to believe that these facilities have since improved, and we are up to date with the management of maintenance.' Mehlo said that they have a longer goal of a complete 100% audit of the vessels in the next three years, and that their current audit, which only looked at 10% of ships, has taught them valuable lessons that they will use going forward. Cape Times
IOL News
23-06-2025
- IOL News
Tragic toll: Western Cape accounts for most commercial fishing fatalities
Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that earlier this year, the department directed the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to undertake a comprehensive, nationwide Fishing Vessel Safety Audit. The SA Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has undertaken a nationwide audit that has reached every major fishing port in South Africa to identify, among others, the age of the fleet, which compromises the structural integrity of the vessels. Briefing vessel owners who gathered at a media engagement at the Cape Town Waterfront Jetty on Monday to hear the keynote address from Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa, Hlengwa said that since 1996, nearly 400 commercial fishing fatalities have been recorded in South Africa, with over half of them occurring in the Western Cape. He touched on the tragedy of the MFV Lepanto, a 63-year-old vessel, that capsized off Kommetjie, taking 11 crew members to their deaths in minutes last year. He also noted its sister vessel, Armana, which went up in flames a few months later. 'These events shook this nation—and rightly so. These are not isolated tragedies. They are warnings. They are indictments of systems that must be fixed. And they are calls to action that we can no longer afford to ignore,' Hlengwa said. 'The audit is designed not only to evaluate compliance but to restore accountability, especially where lives are at risk. We are focusing on small vessels because the data shows they are the most vulnerable to capsizing, collision, and mechanical failure,' he said.
IOL News
23-06-2025
- IOL News
Small commercial fishing vessels vulnerable to capsizing, collision, and mechanical failure
Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, said that earlier this year, the department directed the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to undertake a comprehensive, nationwide Fishing Vessel Safety Audit. Image: SAMSA/Supplied While the National Fishing Vessel Safety Audit report is still being compiled, vessel owners gathered at a media engagement at the Cape Town Waterfront Jetty on Monday morning to hear the keynote address from Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa. Hlengwa said that earlier this year, the Department of Transport directed the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) to undertake a comprehensive, nationwide audit, which started in Gqeberha and has reached every major fishing port in South Africa. SAMSA identified three key findings so far, including the age of the fleet, which compromises the structural integrity of the vessels. The vessels also have stability-related issues, whereby the ships' intake stability under different loading conditions starts to deteriorate, and one of the last findings is the inefficiency of safety management systems. Hlengwa said they are not simply gathering for ceremony or symbolism, but instead for oversight, accountability, and leadership. 'We are here to take decisive steps to change history,' he said. In his address, Hlengwa said that since 1996, nearly 400 commercial fishing fatalities have been recorded in South Africa, with over half of them occurring in the Western Cape. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading He touched on the tragedy of the MFV Lepanto, a 63-year-old vessel, that capsized off Kommetjie, taking 11 crew members to their deaths in minutes last year. He also mentioned its sister vessel, Armana, which went up in flames a few months later. 'These events shook this nation—and rightly so. These are not isolated tragedies. They are warnings. They are indictments of systems that must be fixed. And they are calls to action that we can no longer afford to ignore,' Hlengwa said. 'The audit is designed not only to evaluate compliance but to restore accountability, especially where lives are at risk. We are focusing on small vessels because the data shows they are the most vulnerable to capsizing, collision, and mechanical failure,' he said. Principal Audit Officer for SAMSA in Gqeberha, Thandi Mehlo, said that the age of the vessels causes issues of structural integrity as the 'steel can only survive a limited period at sea'. He highlighted challenges with ship repurpose redesigns, which occur without getting their approval, and also how there was a period a few years ago when not one single dry dock, which is used for vessel maintenance and repairs, was operational in the country. 'We had kept continuously granting exceptions to these vessels…and now if you are going to keep doing that, it is going to come back to bite you, and it has come back to bite us," Mehlo said. 'We're sitting with a couple of these ship repair facilities that are managed by port authorities… and I have evidence to believe that these facilities have since improved, and we are up to date with the management of maintenance.'
