SELI 1 is Burning: The Ship stranded in Cape Town is Burning, Explosions

Earlier, witnesses driving home from work along Marine Drive were greeted by plumes of smoke billowing from the cargo ship's bridge.

Lambinon said the infrastructure of the ship made it unsafe for anyone to board and a tugboat could be sent to the Seli 1 later to spray the burning decks.

The 24-man salvaging crew were using gas cylinders on board to power equipment and they caught fire. Several minor explosions occurred, but no-one was injured.

After being called to help, the crew were picked up by the Ocean Pride and later transferred to an NSRI rescue craft, which transported them to the Table Bay port.

Lambinon said the ship was wedged tight in the sand and it wasn't going anywhere and that's the reason why nothing more could be done.

The vessel has been extensively battered by Cape winter storms and is structurally not sound enough to be refloated or salvaged in a conventional manner.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ship
• cape town
• seli
• turkey
• aground
• boat
• south africa
• burning
• explosions
• ocean
• sea
• emergency