From the Archives. Remembering the Tragedy of the Lindsay

One of the worst fishing tragedies in the history of the South African fishing industry was when a hake trawler, the Lindsay, was mowed down by a liquid fruit juice tanker 20 nautical miles south of Port Elizabeth. Fourteen crew members perished that night in May 2005, but the skipper survived to tell his story. This is the first of three articles that were subsequently published.

The fishing industry in its entirety was silenced by shock at the beginning of May when it became public knowledge that an appalling tragedy had befallen the Lindsay and 14 of her crew, now presumed dead. The irony is that the collision comes at a time when a lot of emphasis is being placed on safety at sea.

In this case though, it appears as though there was absolutely nothing the crew of the 31.2 metre, 174gt hake trawler (fresh fish) could have done when it was mowed down 20 nautical miles south of Port Elizabeth, by the 178-metre Oura da Brasil, a Liberian-flagged, German-owned liquid fruit juice tanker. Indications are that the Oura da Brasil, steaming at between 18 and 20 knots, had moved out of the path of a second unknown freighter travelling west to east, and in doing so had only picked up the Lindsay on its radar moments before the accident occurred. A third ship was also in the vicinity at the time.