The master and crew of the Panama-flagged bulk carrier, the ‘Top Grace’, have been released after payment of a fine following their successful conviction for attempted murder, according to the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa).
The vessel, which has also been released, was detained in South Africa last month after it was found that the crew had thrown two stowaways overboard off the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Samsa has warned vessels traversing South Africa’s waters that they will be subject to the full might of the law if found to have transgressed the country’s maritime laws.
According to Samsa, it was alleged that the two stowaways, both Tanzanians, had boarded the vessel while it was berthed at Maydon Wharf in Durban on Monday 23 March. They had climbed up the mooring ropes and hidden in the bulk carrier’s chain locker.
They claimed that after being discovered hiding on the ship after it had set sail, the crew had thrown them overboard with a make-shift raft, life jackets and some bottles of water. They told authorities that they had spent two days at sea before washing up at Zinkwazi beach on the North Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The vessel subsequently berthed at Richards Bay harbour where it was detained.
