Stevedore rescued after falling off ship into harbour
She was transported to a hospital in a stable condition
A WOMAN was rescued after she slipped and fell from the ship’s gangplank into the water at the loading and off-loading of a ship at berthings inside the Port on Monday. The 46-year-old woman, is a Stevedore (a person employed at a dock to load and unload ships) at the harbour. According to NSRI Durban coxswain, Paul Bevis, he overheard VHF communications from the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) Port Control raising the alarm and seeking a harbour boat to go to the assistance of a female worker who had fallen off a ship in the Port.
Bevis immediately responded to assist and on arrival found Aqua-Tech Diving Services had also responded and a one of its stand-by divers had rescued the woman from the water. The woman was brought to the harbour wall by where Bevis assisted in the coordination of medical treatment and the woman was transported to hospital in a stable condition.
In another incident last week, Thandeka Nyandeni Mzimela, a mrine pilot fell into rough seas and drowned while trying to board a sailing vessel. Mzimela, who had been employed as a trainee pilot with Transnet for four months, had a fear of heights. It is alleged that the 33-year-old, tried to climb onto an incoming vessel but became overwhelmed and lost her grip on the ladder.
