Stowaway saga ends with murder charges

By Terry Hutson THE CAPTAIN and three crew members of the African Kalahari were charged in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last Friday on two counts of murder and five of attempted murder after tossing seven stowaways overboard while the bulk vessel was alongside Maydon Wharf 6 in Durban harbour last Thursday. Two of the stowaways died while the rest managed to swim to safety. For reasons not yet clear several of the crew, including a number of Ukrainians, tossed the men overboard into the Maydon Channel. According to police, the stowaways boarded the ship at the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. African Kalahari is owned and managed by Hector MTME and Enterprises Shipping of Athens and is under charter to Metall und Rohstoff (MUR).