Whilst they were there, the lights went out. In the meantime, the passengers had gathered in the ship’s lounge in anticipation of a 10pm show. She told him that the Captain had told her there was engine trouble and they would have to abandon ship. Moss went in search of the Cruise Director, Lorraine Betts, to establish what was going on.
A guitarist called Moss Hills reported that, at around 8:45 pm he saw crew members running around the vessel handing out life jackets. Eventually she set sail late in the afternoon, but passengers reported a terrible ordeal through their dinner, with plates flying off the tables and alarmingly mobile furniture.Ī number of entertainers were onboard. The next day, the vessel’s departure for Durban was delayed because of ongoing terrible weather. The ship left the harbour and, when everyone was properly seasick and the ceremony had been performed, the vessel returned and guests partied through the night. Despite appalling weather, the bride insisted that the wedding ceremony should take place at sea. The vessel berthed in East London and a wedding was held onboard on 2nd August. Its voyage had taken it to the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion and it was steadily making its way up the coast from Cape Town to Durban. The vessel had been plying the waters of the Indian Ocean during July and August of 1991. In August 1991 I was a junior partner in the maritime department of a major Durban based law firm and was privileged enough to have been one of the team which investigated the sinking of the Oceanos. The notorious Master of the vessel was Captain Yiannis Avranas. It was owned by Epirotiki Lines of Greece and chartered at the time by a South African company, TFC Tours.
The MV Oceanos was a 153 meter passenger ship, built in 1952 and designed to carry 550 passengers and 250 crew. The fast flowing warm Agulhas current heading south from Mozambique, severe winds blowing in the opposite direction and the 200 fathom line on the edge of the continental shelf conspire to create huge, sometimes freak waves which can completely immerse ships and put strains on them for which they were not designed. Hundreds of ships have encountered problems in our coastal waters over the years, but a great many of those have experienced their darkest hours off the Transkei. The sea on the Transkei coastline is perilous, perhaps South Africa’s version of the Bermuda Triangle. It took place a couple of miles offshore on the Wild Coast. It is just over 25 years since what has been described as the greatest maritime rescue in modern history was effected.
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