High drama for ships and crew in CT

There were no sirens or alarms as firemen took it easy after the Turkish bulker Seli 1, aground off Blouberg for eight months, caught fire in the accommodation quarters during welding operations last week. A decision was taken to let her burn herself out. The ship, with a coal cargo of about 9 000 tonnes still on board, was abandoned by her Turkish owners and has been stuck in Cape Town ever since. The future of the crew of the ageing tanker, Hector, which entered False Bay with engine failure several weeks ago, has yet to be determined. The vessel’s Syrian owners are reportedly either in Cape Town or en route to settle overdue wages but they are under the misapprehension the vessel will be allowed to sail after that, debt of nearly R1m having already accrued.