Seven crew members of the SA Navy submarine SAS Manthatisi were swept out to sea, and three lost their lives. A defence expert told News24 that this indicated ‘a serious failure somewhere’.
The submarine had been en route to Cape Town on Wednesday afternoon when it was hit by rough waves off Kommetjie.
The crew had been conducting ‘a vertical transfer’ by means of an SA Air Force Maritime Lynx helicopter. This transfer was immediately cancelled to recover those who had been swept out to sea.
‘A surface swimmer was dispatched from the helicopter to assist with the rescue. Unfortunately, the recovery operation was negatively affected by rough sea conditions’, the SA Navy said.
All seven crewmen were recovered, but two died. A senior officer is in critical condition. A female crew member was extricated from the vessel. Despite extensive CPR efforts, she was declared dead.
The Western Cape was battered by a storm surge at the weekend, resulting in waves as high as 9.5m along parts of the coastline. For Wednesday, though, the SA Weather Service issued a Level 1 warning (minor impact, medium likelihood) for waves along south coast.
A massive operation was mounted where emergency services and the NSRI quickly initiated a search operation for the marines.
Defence expert Darren Olivier said that working on the hull of a submarine during surface operations at sea was hazardous enough on calm days, let alone in rough seas.
‘It has happened to some of the best trained and best funded navies in the world. Nonetheless, for so many personnel to have been swept off indicates a serious failure somewhere and this is what a board of inquiry which is opened after every accident must determine in order to try to prevent a recurrence.’