Four Walvis Bay Port vessels are searching for seven fishermen who went missing when a Namibian trawler sank off the south coast of that country on Saturday morning, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre said.
MRCC representative Sergeant Pieter Moller said the Meob Bay sunk about 30 nautical miles west of Luderitz around 3.30am.
The trawler was carrying 28 fishermen — 12 of them died in the rough seas, nine were rescued and seven were missing, Moller said.
He said the trawler started sinking after the propeller caught a fishing net, which led to the propeller being torn out of the romp of the vessel. Water streamed into the engine room.
It took about 28 minutes for the trawler to sink, Moller said.
The search started around 5am because the vessels had to travel from Walvis Bay to get to the scene of the accident.
Moller said the nationalities of the fishermen were not yet known. – Sapa