27 crew missing after ship sinks off South Africa
Rescue teams were today searching for 27 crewmen missing from the Alexandros T, a bulk carrier that sank last night in the Indian Ocean off South Africa’s southern coast.
Andre Botes, the head of the maritime search and rescue operations, said 28 crewmen, all wearing lifejackets, failed to reach the life rafts when the ship began to break-up in heavy seas. One was later rescued.
Botes said a South African Airforce C-130 cargo plane was searching the area off the coast between Port Elizabeth and East London.
Another ship, The Fortune Express, had been only two nautical miles from the sinking ship and was standing by to rescue crew forced into the sea.
