Juice Tanker Delayed After Killing 14 Fishermen

The 14 men are believed to have drowned, when their 95-foot steel fishing vessel, the "Lindsay," was hit by the 20 000-ton fruit juice tanker "Ouro do Brasil" while they were at anchor nine miles off the coast at Sardinia Bay. The collision took place early Sunday. A search for survivors was called off, after other boats in the area and the National Sea Rescue Institute at Port Elizabeth found only pieces of wreckage and life jackets. The fishing vessel's skipper and one crewman had a miraculous escape, when they were thrown overboard by the violence of the impact. But, their crew members in their bunks were believed to have gone down with the ship. The master is in intensive care, and the crewman was treated for shock. The "Ouro do Brasil," which has docked in Port Elizabeth with minor damage, has been detained under the Maritime Safety Act for at least the duration of the investigation. The ship, a Liberian-registered vessel, was sailed by German officers and a South American crew, said Captain Nigel Campbell, chief investigator of the South African Maritime Safety Authority in Port Elizabeth. "We have already taken statements from the tanker's master, officer of the watch, and lookout and we will continue the investigation by questioning all the crew," Campbell said. The investigation into the collision is expected to focus on the two vessels' positions and the extent to which they had kept a proper lookout while at sea.