Cape Town | Sunday
STORMY weather has delayed a navy mission to airlift two seriously ill weathermen off the remote Marion island until Monday, the navy said.
One man is suffering a bleeding stomach ulcer and the other a heart condition on the island in the southern Indian Ocean, some 1_700km southeast of South Africa.
A navy icebreaker, the Outeniqua, with a fully equipped hospital and an air force helicopter on board, reached the island on Friday to rescue the men.
But navy spokeswoman Captain Sonica van Rooyen said Saturday strong winds and rain had made helicopter rescue attempts on Saturday afternoon impossible.
“We received a situation report from the island shortly after 7pm. Weather conditions have made it impossible and unsafe for a helicopter operation until Monday,” she said.
“Winds are gusting at up to 72 knots per hour. Since this (Saturday) afternoon, the weather has worsened. It is still pouring, the temperature is very low, and the crew is battling heavy seas,” Van Rooyen told the South African news agency Sapa.
She said the ship crew would wait for the strong winds to abate before the helicopter could fly to the island with a doctor, airlift the men out and fly in their replacements. – AFP
Earlier, two teenage stowaways were found on board the Outeniqua, the navy said on Friday.
The two males, aged 14 and 19, are believed to be from Burundi. They were discovered during early morning rounds on the vessel.
The stowaways apparently jumped on board the ship from a train which was parked alongside a commercial quay in the east coast port of Durban.
The two will remain on board the ship until her return to South Africa.
South Africa annexed Prince Edward island in 1947 and Marion island in 1948, and operates a weather and research station on Marion island staffed by meteorologists and other scientists. – AFP