LUFAFA

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Pilot boat ran aground

The 'Lufafa' ran aground with a number of port crew members on board in the port of Durban inside the Maydon/Esplanade Channel in the morning of June 8 ,2021. The pilot missed the marker buoys, and the vessel got stuck on the central sandbank, which is exposed at low tide but underwater during the flood, and listed to port side. All members were safe and sustained no injuries during the incident. The pilot boat was refloated and proceeded with own power to the Ports Workshop 24 for structural inspections and further investigation into the incident. The TNPA launched an investigation. Report with photo: https://africaports.co.za/#3712

Pilot fell from snapping ladder

A Transnet National Ports Authority ship's pilot fell off a crude oil tanker after a rope ladder snapped at the Durban port on April 28, 2020. The NSRI Durban deployed a rescue team at 7.45 a.m. after the 35-year-old man fell off the vessel while disembarking onto the 'Lufafa' before the tanker departed the port. In an effort to avoid injury to the man, the 'Lufafa' veered away from the ship when the incident occurred, allowing the man space to push away from the ship and swim free from the ships draft in an effort to avoid being sucked into the ships propellers. Its crew rescued the man and took him to the T Jetty, where they were met by paramedics. He was treated for mild hypothermia and as a precaution he has been transported to hospital by ambulance in a stable condition for further medical evaluation. The immediate reaction of the skipper and crew of the pilot vessel and the calm and deliberate actions taken by the casualty after he fell into the water contributed to his survival and they were commended. The incident was to be investigated by authorities.