The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was alerted to an emergency radio beacon activation approximately 30 nautical miles off-shore of Port St Johns on Tuesday, 3 October.
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.
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NSRI Port St Johns issued an emergency alert, while Telkom Maritime Radio Services transmitted a distress call to all ships at sea. NSRI Durban, NSRI East London, and NSRI Port Edward were put on standby.
Four vessels altered their course to a search area and searched in an operation overseen by the MRCC. A yacht was spotted by an oil/chemical tanker, leading to the successful rescue of a 57-year-old man from Cape Town who had been aboard the yacht.
The rescued man reported that his brother (54) had gone missing after going overboard in the early hours of the morning in rough waters after waves swept over the yacht. The yacht showed evidence of damage and remains adrift at sea.
The sailor was transported to Durban aboard the tanker.
An extensive search revealed no sign of the missing man. The family arranged for a 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.
An investigation was launched by the SA Police Services and SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority).
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Picture: Joel Bengs / Unsplash