South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has helped evacuate two injured Filipino seafarers from a handysize bulker off South Africa.
The two man were airlifted from the Kumiai Senpaku-controlled 35,678-dwt KS Flora (built 2015) while the ship was sailing towards East London.
Both men had been injured onboard during rough sea conditions, one suffering a fractured left leg, suspected to be a fractured tibia and fibula, and one suffering a left ankle injury.
An NSRI rescue swimmer accompanied by a rescue paramedic boarded a South African Air Force (SAAF) helicopter which rendezvoused with the ship seven nautical miles off East London in rough seas with three to four meter swells and a 15 to 20 knot Easterly wind.
The rescue paramedic and the NSRI rescue swimmer were hoisted onto the ship and were led to where the two patients were being kept onboard the ship.
In an operation lasting 40 minutes, during which time the helicopter flew around the ship in a holding pattern, both patients were stabilised onboard.
The patient with the fractured leg was secured into a Baumann’s basket stretcher and hoisted into the helicopter and the patient with the ankle injury was hoisted into the helicopter in a strop accompanied by the NSRI rescue swimmer.
Once all patients and the rescue paramedic and the NSRI rescue swimmer were in the helicopter the patients were airlifted to East London Airport.
At East London Airport both patients were transported to hospital in stable conditions for further treatment and the helicopter returned to Port Elizabeth.
