The 24 meter long, 178 gt fishing vessel Rias Baxias Un foundered in the South Atlantic near Freetown, Sierra Leone. The five crew on board sent out a distress call before abandoned ship into the vessel’s life raft. Another nearby fishing vessel came to their aid and were able to rescue all men safely. No further details reported.
The 67 foot long fishing vessel Seafarer sank in the Atlantic Ocean near Assateague Island, Maryland. The Seafarer had become disabled and was taken under tow by another fishing vessel. The vessels were proceeding back to port when weather conditions worsen with seas reaching 12 feet and winds up to 40 miles per hour. A short time later the towline snapped and the vessels drifted apart. The Coast Guard received an emergency beacon alert that the Seafarer had sank. Rescue helicopters dispatched to the scene found one crewman on a life raft. The man was lifted to safety and taken to hospital for treatment. He stated that the Seafarer had lost stability and capsized in the severe weather. Two other crewmen were still reported as missing. A search continued but was later suspended.
On March 16, 2011, the 75,300 dwt freighter MS Oliva went aground off Nightingale Island which is part the South Atlantic Islands of Tristan da Cunha. The Oliva was bound for Singapore from Santos, Brazil with a cargo of soya beans when it struck a rocky outcrop and firmly aground. The initial grounding caused damage to 4 ballast tanks. All 22 crewmen on board the Oliva were safely rescued by the fishing vessel Edinburgh and cruise ship MS Prince Albert II. Salvage attempt was remotely possible as the nearest salvage team would have to travel from Cape Town, South Africa which was a 5 day voyage. A few days later, the weather worsen with heavy swells causing the vessel to break-in-two.
When the MV Oliva broke up it released some 1,600 tons of heavy fuel oil along with its cargo of soya beans into the waters surrounding Nightingale Island. Reports stated thousands of Northern Rockhopper penguins became coated in the pollution. The efforts to save these birds can be found in this is book.
Two years later, the lifeboat from the MV Oliva washes ashore in South Australia. The lifeboat survived some 12,000 kilometers from Nightingale Island across the southern oceans. Besides some damage to the seats on board, the 7 meter long lifeboat remained intact.
