Baratz
Page Creator: BA Systems
At 14h00, Thursday, 26th November, NSRI Port Elizabeth duty crew were activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following a request for urgent assistance from the 29 meter steel Crayfish boat Baratz reporting to be taking water with no motor power and adrift at sea South East of Cape Recife, Port Elizabeth, with 25 crew on-board in rough sea conditions of 4 to 5 meter swells and up to 20 knots South Easterly winds.
The rescue was a success and all lives were saved leaving kilometres of 20mm rope, crayfish traps, the normal trappings of fishermen at sea, 45 tons of diesel fuel on-board as well as 30 tons of bait on the ocean floor. [Editor: initially it was reported that 70 tons of diesel was on-board, today it was confirmed that the Bratz had 45 tons on-board.].
According to side and sonar scans the Baratz was upright on her keel and had sunk about 1 metre into the reef.
The approximate position of the wreck is 34°01’0.14″S 25°43’0.3″E.
Environmental Hazards
On 1 December 2015 Neville Noble from the South African Maritime Association (SAMSA) instructed the Tactical Task Force to enforce a no go area of two nautical miles around the Cape Recife Lighthouse.
The Tactical Task Force Commander, Tom Swartz, confirmed on the day that one vessel had already been escorted out of the area.
The hazards from the wreck included the seepage of 45 tons of diesel and an unknown quantity of oil, 30 tons of bait and tons of 20 mm rope slowly uncoiling and rising to the surface.
Swartz was busy with an abalone seeding programme off of the Cape Recife Nature Reserve. He and his team have seeded 864 000 abalone sprats during 2015. According to Tom; “The slightest hint of oil in the water will suffocate the sprats and, if the combination of an east south east current with an east wind occurs, then the seeding programme could suffer a serious setback.”
The seeding of the remaining 136 000 abalone sprats was put on hold until the wreck of the Baratz was made safe.
A dive to the wreck on 27 November revealed slowly leaking diesel mixing with sand and oil making the visibility almost nil and diving of the area extremely dangerous.
Despite this evidence of a ‘smoking gun’ as diesel leaked into the bay authorities seemed to then go into a state of suspended animation and did nothing. This jeopardised the abalone seeding programme off of the Cape Recife Nature Reserve which led Tom Swartz, Commander of the Tactical Task Force to comment; “The slightest hint of oil in the water will suffocate the [abalone] sprats and, if the combination of an east south east current with an east wind occurs, then the seeding programme could suffer a serious setback.”
The owners of the Baratz and their insurance company authorised divers from CDC with support from Xtreme Projects to retrieve items such as rope, crayfish traps and other easily moveable assets off of the boat.
The ONLY official authority to issue any form of comment on the wreck was Ms Mandlakazi Skefile, CEO of Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism who, on 14 December 2015 said; “Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism are aware of the sinking of the Baratz on 26 November and are relieved that there were no casualties. Currently the only concern is the possibility of an oil spill and pollution that could harm the ocean life until the wreck has been ‘sanitised’. Once the risk has been removed and the area has been cleared, the silver lining in the tragic situation is that it will add value to the deep-sea diving experience for scuba divers adding an additional underwater spot of interest to explore.”
On 7 January 2016 he City had no way of telling what toll the leaking diesel had had on the sea life, no authority had ‘forced’ the owners and insurers of the Baratz to clean up their mess and no salvage company had been instructed to attend to the greatest hazard from the wreck – the 45 tons of diesel slowly poisoning the sea.
Kevin Kelly of Xtreme Projects and Raymond Taylor of Coega Diving Contractors (CDC) announced in a post on Facebook saying; “I have just spoken to Raymond of CDC, we as a team Xtreme Projects and CDC will start with arranging authority to remove the fuel from the vessel, at this stage we will carry the costs, our beaches, environment, and PE is very important to us and so to the rest of PE. Once all is a go and we can start this is what we will do. Thanks Raymond for teaming up as your divers are a need for this operation.”
References
- NMBT Comment on the Baratz - https://mype.co.za/new/nmbt-comment-on-the-baratz/57636/2015/12
- Underwater Footage of the Wreck of the Baratz - https://mype.co.za/new/underwater-footage-of-the-wreck-of-the-baratz/57552/2015/12
- Diesel escaping from the wreck of the Baratz - https://mype.co.za/new/video-diesel-escaping-from-the-wreck-of-the-baratz/57019/2015/12
- Baratz wreck is a ‘No Go No Dive’ area - https://mype.co.za/new/baratz-wreck-is-a-no-go-no-dive-area/56978/2015/12
- NMMU watches over Baratz Flotsam - https://mype.co.za/new/nmmu-watches-over-baratz-flotsam/56812/2015/11
- Baratz Flotsam off Cape Recife - https://mype.co.za/new/baratz-flotsam-off-cape-recife/56795/2015/11
- Baratz Diesel and Rope Flotsam - https://mype.co.za/new/baratz-diesel-and-rope-flotsam/56785/2015/11
- MyPE Image: Cape Receife - https://mype.co.za/new/mype-image-cape-receife/58009/2015/12
- MyPE Image: Algoa Bay Yacht Club - https://mype.co.za/new/mype-image-algoa-bay-yacht-club-11/58002/2015/12
- Panyiota K Discharges into PE Harbour - https://mype.co.za/new/panyiota-k-discharges-into-pe-harbour/56774/2015/11
- We are in danger of destroying our HOPE SPOT - https://mype.co.za/new/we-are-in-danger-of-destroying-our-hope-spot/56761/2015/11
- Fishing boat sinks off Cape Recife - https://mype.co.za/new/fishing-boat-sinks-off-cape-recife/56718/2015/11
