Rescuers searching for 26 missing crew members of a Greek cargo ship found empty life jackets and a lifebuoy ring among debris floating on the sea near Port Elizabeth on Friday.
But this discovery ”has no meaning” as there are often extra life vests on a ship, rescue officials said.
Andre Botes, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) head of operations, said Friday’s search for the missing crew of the Alexandros T yielded no results, and weather off the coast near Port Elizabeth was deteriorating rapidly.
Gale-force winds and high seas were expected, which did not bode well for the crew members who — although wearing life jackets — had been missing for about 45 hours by 4pm on Friday.
”They have been in very cold water for a very long time. That’s life-threatening and the chances of deaths are very likely,” said Botes.
He said the search would probably continue for the rest of Friday, through the night, and much of Saturday, barring further developments.
The tug Smit Amandla, which joined the search on Friday, had found the debris and life vests.
The bulk carrier Fortune Express, which had been two nautical miles from the stricken vessel when it began to break up on Wednesday night, was relieved and is on its way to Durban. An air-force C-130 aircraft is also still in the area.
Seven of the crew of 33 were rescued when the Alexandros T began taking on water in heavy seas about 600km off the coast of Port Elizabeth.
The 299m bulk carrier — built in 1989 — with a gross tonnage of 91 164, was headed from Brazil to China with a load of steel.
The ship broke up quickly, and survivors said not everyone could reach life rafts.
Five people were rescued from a life raft and one was plucked from the sea on Wednesday. On Thursday morning at about 10am, another man was found on a life raft. Four other life rafts spotted by a rescue aircraft were found to be empty.
The main concern of rescuers is that the crew may contract hypothermia due to the cold.
According to counsellor Dimitri Yannakakis of the Greek embassy in Pretoria, five of the survivors are Philippine nationals and one Romanian. The nationality of the last one is not yet known.
The 26 missing crew members include the captain. Most of them are believed to be Filipino.
Representatives from the Greek and Romanian embassies are at the rescue centre in Cape Town. Yannakakis said on Friday that the embassy is following the search closely.
”We of course inform the ministry of merchant marine which … have a mechanism devised over years, of informing the families of the people whose names are known at this stage,” he said. The ministry will also inform them ”in case of an unfortunate end to the story”.
”It is very sad that such an event has happened and we are hoping for best and following very closely rescue efforts taken by the South African authorities. We are grateful for the effort under way and hope there will be a positive outcome,” he added.
The four Greeks who were on board are among those missing.
Chief petty officer Aspa Papadopoulou of the merchant marine ministry said the captain is 60-year-old Blismas Banagiotis. The other Greek crew members are first engineer Boukouvalas Nearchos (52) and Eftratiou Ilias (61), the second engineer. Another crew member is 58-year-old Karaminas John. — Sapa