SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
Fukuseki Maru No. 7 shipwreck in Namibia
July 11:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1783: Nicobar, this Danish East Indiaman was on its way from Copenhagen to the far east when it wrecked off Quoin Point in the Western Cape after encountering a north-westerly gale. Only 11 people survived. It was stripped at the time by local farmers after permission was given by the local Swellendam commandant, Jacob van Reenen. In 1987, two spear-fishermen found the remains whilst fishing. Today, its 12 cast iron cannons can still be seen at the site.
1810: A storm off Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape resulted in the wrecking of two vessels:
• Fanny, a wooden-hulled brig trading wood; and
• Flora, a wooden-hulled transport vessel
1857: William Bayley, this wooden-hulled brig had to be run ashore after its cargo spontaneously combusted, and so it was wrecked in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape.
1985: A Beechcraft B58 Baron (registration No. 9Q-CJR) went missing on this day in severe weather between Robertson and Cape Town in the Western Cape. The pilot had lied about his instrument rating to Approach Control the previous day as he would not have been allowed to fly on visuals given the severe mist. It is assumed that the plane either crashed into a remote part of the mountains in the Western Cape between Robertson and Cape Town or that the pilot’s bearings were completely off, and the plane instead flew over the ocean and ran out of fuel before being able to make it back to land on visual flight alone. To this day, the location of the plane is unknown.
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