TAKING ON THE BOS 400

If there is one rescue that stands out for experienced NSRI crewman Phil Ress, it was the evacuation of 18 crew off the crane barge BOS 400 in 1994. The mission was a success but, to date, it remains his most harrowing encounter at sea. By Wendy Maritz

FORMER STATION 3 (Table Bay) station commander Howard Godfrey knew something was amiss on the morning of 26 June 1994 when he was driving along Sea Point’s Beach Road and noticed what appeared to be a crane barge about 1.3nm miles offshore. Howard was on his way to watch The Ice Show with his family, but the sight of the barge, which was ‘a bit too close to shore for comfort’, prompted him to call Port Control.

A MERCILESS STORM

There clearly was a drama unfolding. The 100m crane barge BOS 400 was being towed by a Russian tugboat, Tigr, but the operation appeared to be in extreme difficulty as a merciless storm was battering Cape Town’s coast. A northwesterly wind of more than 50 knots was blowing, and swells were peaking at eight metres. But Howard was told he’d be informed of further developments. That update came in about 10 minutes into The Ice Show and both he and Phil Ress were asked to report to the Court Helicopter base in Paarden Island.

They were to get a taste of what was to come later in the day when they were tasked with evacuating a pilot from a freighter. Howard recalls that the sea off the breakwater was huge. Once the pilot was dropped ashore, Phil, Howard, and the Court Helicopter crew – captains John Pocock and Brent Curtin, and engineer Jannie Jansen – were asked to fly over BOS 400 and report back. The tow line was intact, but the tugboat was having difficulty making her way out to sea. The helicopter returned to base and the crew reported their findings.

THE INEVITABLE MAYDAY

Call it gut instinct, but everyone knew it was just a matter of time before the Mayday call came in, and it did around 3.30 that afternoon. The tow line had broken and BOS 400 was heading to Oudeskip, in danger of running aground with 18 crew on board.

Phil vividly remembers the flight to the barge. ‘The weather was atrocious. The sea was wild, and the northwester had picked up to 60 knots, with rain squalls and swells of nine metres. We had to fly under the clouds, about 200 feet from the water. We found BOS 400 hard aground off Oudeskip Point, just past Sandy Bay,’ he says. The barge was equipped with a helicopter pad, but it would have been too dangerous to land. ‘She had a massive crack in the centre of her hull and we knew we’d have to evacuate the crew using the hi-line equipment, as we feared she would break in half.’

It took great skill from both pilots to keep the helicopter hovering over the barge, which was at the mercy of the seas and hitting up against the rocks offshore. The crew, who were all wearing lifejackets, were lined up along the walkway extending from the vessel’s bridge to the helipad.

The double strop was lowered, but the crew were so unfamiliar with using it that they tried to climb into the strop, rather than securing their upper bodies, with the strop under their arms. Captain Pocock suggested Phil be lowered on deck to assist the crew, two by two, into the strops so they could be hoisted up. Phil agreed, but as soon as he reached the helipad, which he remembers was covered in netting, the barge broke away from the rock and a massive squall hit the deck. She began heaving from side to side at a 35-degree angle, turned 180 degrees as her overhead gantry smashed onto the rocks.

The helicopter flew a circuit around the barge as she was breaking free of the rock and being thrashed around by the was heading wild seas and wind. Phil remembers thinking she to Oudeskip, in was going to break in two, danger of run- because the crashing ning aground sound of the crane being with 18 crew whipped from side to on board. side was so violent and deafening. The helicopter returned and the hoisting began, but about halfway through the operation, a huge squall swept over the barge and the helicopter had to fly another circuit, leaving Phil and the remaining seven crew on the violently heaving barge, now about 200 metres from her ultimate resting place in Maori Bay.

A LIFETIME IN 20 MINUTES

All 18 crew were eventually hoisted up to the safety of the helicopter. Phil was the last one to leave the barge. The hoisting operation lasted about 20 minutes. For Howard, this rescue was by no means business as usual. The helicopter crew was exceptional, he says, and Phil risked his life going down on deck to make sure everyone was hoisted up properly.

For Phil, it was thanks to the efforts of a superb helicopter crew of two pilots and the engineer, and Howard, his friend and mentor, that the operation was a success.

RECOGNITION

For their roles in the successful evacuation, Phil Ress received a Bronze Gallantry Award, Howard Godfrey, Captain Brent Curtin and Jannie Jansen received Directors’ Thanks, and Captain John Pocock received Director’s Thanks on Vellum.