South African captain rescued at sea

A SOUTH AFRICAN captain who was rescued at sea on Saturday is expected to arrive in Trinidad on Friday.

Members of the shipping company, Intermarine, were near the coast of the Dominican Republic on Saturday when the captain received a distress call.

Line manager for TT Andrea Inniss said Intermarine’s captain and the crew received the emergency call from the stranded captain of a yacht named Ayisha.

“There was no crew with Mr Hempel, the captain. Mr Hempel is currently on board our ZeaMarine vessel called MV Industrial Courage.

“Captain Jan Frerichs and the crew is taking care of him and it appears the engine had mechanical problems. Our vessel is on its way to Point Lisas to do cargo operations. The crew will arrive in TT on January 4,” Inniss said.

Intermarine is a subsidiary of ZeaMarine. Huggins Shipping is the local agents for Intermarine.

On arrival, Intermarine will hand over the man to coast guard.

“He was on his way to Anguilla. Huggins is lending all assistance to ensure the skipper and yacht are safely handed to relevant authorities on arrival to our shores,” Inniss said.

The cargo vessel came from the US and some of the crew members are from TT.