Friday, September 12, 2008

A freaque wave case in South Indian Ocean

I guess news of freaque waves in South Indian Ocean is not surprising. But having fatality is still disheartening. Such is the case of an IOL news today from South Africa:
A Philippine national died and two others were seriously injured when a German vessel was hit by a freak wave off Durban, the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) said on Friday.

The incident happened 300km south east off the coast of Durban, said MRCC spokesperson, Sarene Kloren.

A 48-year-old chief officer died. A 36-year-old crew member had a fractured elbow and a 35-year-old crew member had serious facial injuries. They were all Philippine nationals, said Kloren.

The Niledutch Asia was travelling from Singapore to Ponte Noire, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The vessel was carrying 1044 containers of general cargo. It re-routed to Durban and arrived at 7am, said Kloren.
Not much details, but the occurrence to the cargo ship was unmistakably the footprint of a classic freaque wave. I wish there can be more details of the wave. Let's all pray for the chief officer, may he rest in peace, and speed recovery for the injured crew members.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a sad news, because the chief officer of the said vessel which was hit by the freak wave is our beloved friend. he was a nice guy, he was filipino citizen but his faher was a german and his mother is a filipino. When i read the news i was suddened, and even until now i still hoping that he is still alive and hoping that it is not him,( Elvis Stehmiere ) the chief officer of that named german vessel.