A man has gone missing at sea off the coast of Port St. Johns

A man has gone missing at sea after a yacht was located by a tanker where a 57-year-old man from Cape Town reported his brother had gone overboard in rough seas that morning.

At around 13h00, Tuesday, 3 October, NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) were alerted by MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) of an EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) activation approximately 30 nautical miles off-shore of Port St Johns.

NSRI Port St Johns was placed on alert while Telkom Maritime Radio Services broadcast an all ships alert.

4 ships at sea diverted to a search area and searched in an operation coordinated by MRCC.

NSRI Durban, NSRI East London and NSRI Port Edward were placed on alert.

During the late afternoon a yacht was located by a oil/chemical tanker where a survivor, a 57 year old Cape Town, man was rescued from the yacht onto the tanker.

His brother, age 54, from Cape Town, had reportedly gone overboard in the early hours of the morning in rough seas after waves swept over the yacht in deep seas and he was missing at sea.

The yacht showed signs of damage and remains adrift at sea.

A search revealed no signs of the missing man.

The survivor was brought to Durban aboard the tanker where an investigation has been launched by the SA Police Services and SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority).

The Captain and crew of the oil/chemical tanker are commended for their assistance.

Family arranged fixed wing aircraft to conduct a search on Wednesday while a number of vessels, including fishing vessels and commercial vessels, searched an extensive area off-shore of Port St Johns.

NSRI Shelly Beach ASR (Airborne Sea Rescue) rescue swimmers accompanied one of the aircraft.

A private helicopter searched along the shoreline of the Eastern Cape.

NSRI EOC and NSRI operations assisted MRCC with search grid patterns.

Despite an extensive air and sea search there remains no signs of the missing man.

NSRI commend everyone that has and is assisting in the search.

NSRI commend Telkom Maritime Radio Services for extensive efforts assisting in communications during search efforts.

Family has respectfully requested privacy at this time.

Our thoughts are with family and friends of the missing man in this difficult time.

Photo courtesy Andrew Ingram