Where was it?

This blog had almost 100 visitors today from the UK, there was obviously a program on TV about it, if you watched it please let me know what channel it was on and what is was called.  Thanks a million!!!

Blonde on a Cruise ship

DEAR DIARY: DAY 1

All packed for the cruise ship - all my sexiest dresses and make-up... Really excited.

DEAR DIARY: DAY 2
Entire day at sea, beautiful and saw whales and dolphins. Met the Captain today

- seems a very nice man.


DEAR DIARY: DAY 3
At the pool today. Also some shuffle boarding and hit golf balls off the deck. Captain invited me to join
him at his table for dinner. Felt honoured and had a wonderful time. He is very attractive and attentive.


DEAR DIARY: DAY 4
Won R800.00 in the ship's casino. Captain asked me to have dinner with him in his own cabin.
Had a luxurious meal complete with caviar and champagne.
He asked me to stay the night but I declined. Told him I could not be unfaithful to my husband.

DEAR DIARY: DAY 5
Pool again today, got sun-burnt, and went inside to drink at piano bar for rest of day.
Captain saw me, bought me several large drinks. He really is charming.
Again asked me to visit his cabin for the night. Again I declined. He told me if I did not let him have his way with me he would sink the ship.
I was shocked.

DEAR DIARY: DAY 6
Today I saved 2,600 lives. Twice.

New Passenger List

I am eventually getting round to posting a new passenger list with added names, if you were on the Oceanos and your name was not on the old passenger list and you have not previously left a comment on this blog, please email me at oceanos.survivors @ gmail.com and I will ensure your name is included on the list.

A full list of all the passengers is published in the book "OCEANOS survivors stories" by Ian Uys, I will seek permission to copy it here.

Please promote this Blog.

Thank you for visiting this blog, if you have a website or a blog please would you add a link to the Oceanos Sinking website, we would like to get as many people together for our 20 year reunion next year, but I won't be able to do that without your help.


If you know any of the survivors or can put a note in your local newspaper to visit this website please do.  A lot of the survivors no longer live in South Africa, so whether you live in Australia, New Zealand, America, Fiji or where ever, it will help to promote this site.

Thanks a million.
Rose

Oceanos 20 Year Reunion - August 2011

If you were one of the passengers on the ill fated Oceanos or were involved in the rescue operation and are interested in attending a 20 year reunion on the Wild Coast of South Africa in August 2011, please send an email to oceanos.survivors@gmail.com.  Depending on numbers and prices we will try to arrange a get together.

The Oceanos Miracle

I have just come across this article on : http://www.dispatch.co.za/specialreports/article.aspx?id=163858 about the Oceanos, which was writtine on the 23rd of September 2009, I have not read the whole thing yet, but it looks rather interesting and as soon as I get a moment I will read it - wanted to blog about it first.

New Oceonos Blog

Mike AKA Jack Daniels has started his own blog about his Oceanos experience, it is worth taking a look.  His blog can be found by following this link:  http://oceanossinking-myexperience.blogspot.com/ or clicking on My blog list in the side bar of my blog.  ENJOY!

T.S.M.V. City of Durban - Christmas Menu 25th of December 1956

My mom & dad loved cruises, they would normally do a cruise from Durban up the coat to Beira in Mozambique. Here is the menu from the cruise the took in December 1956.

Titanic II

A British cruise company is organising a cruise to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the titanic, the ship will trace the exact route taken by the titanic and leave on exactly the same day as the titanic as well as having exactly the same number of passengers (not sure if that would include any stow aways that they did not account for).

The cruise leaves Southampton on the 8th of April 2012 and will arrive at the exact point where the titanic sank on the 14th of April, it is "expected" to dock in New York on the 15th of April 2012 the exact date 100 years on that the Titanic originally sank, OR WILL IT?

Apparently tickets for the cruise start at 1,999 Pounds sterling and go up to 7,995 - I somehow don't think I would tempt fate, would you?

http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/87106.htm

RMS Titanic - 15th April 1912

Today is the 97th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I don't think there are still any survivors alive today, but I could be wrong. I have just been reading all about it again on "Wikipedia" and of course it reminded me of the Oceanos - especially since a few nights before we sailed, the original Titanic movie (the old black & white one) had just been on TV and of course everyone had watched it.

My now husband, was joking with me after the movie, saying that I had better pack my water wings because the Oceanos too was going to hit and ice berg and sink, well I think the ice berg was a bit far fetched, but of course she too did sink.

The story of the Oceanos however is far different from the Titanic, as not one person lost their lives.
Here is the link to "The Titanic", worth reading.

Interesting Newspaper Article

THANK YOU!!!

Once again I would like to say Thank You to everyone who signed my guest book, without your comments and support I probably would have just given up the blog, but every now I then when interest is shown I try and add some new stuff.

Moss Hills

Moss Hill is one of the heroes from the Oceanos, in fact Moss was the person that put the harness over me and therefore personally saw to it that I was air lifted to safety from the Oceanos. Without Moss I would not be here today to tell the story, Moss so many of us owe you our lives for being there to orchestrate the rescue operation.

No medal can actually do justice for the way that you personally touched each of our lives, and a simple "Thank You" just does not seem enough, however your name will go down in History just like "Wolraad Woltemade" and centuries from now, people will be talking about Moss Hills and the Oceanos and how he rescued over 500 people from a doomed ship off the Wild Coast of South Africa!

THANK YOU MOSS - You can link to Moss's website here: http://www.oceanossinking.com/

Keeping the memory alive

Thanks Cindy A from CA, here is the extract from the show that was Broadcast in America on Sunday night:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Hudson Miracle

I heard about this, but never saw any of the TV broadcasts, I know it is not about a ship, but it's about a plane that became a boat, Yiannis Avranis could learn something from the pilot of this plane.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Record for the Oceanos Blog

Wow, I just had a look at my hits and today so far I have had 614 hits and it is only 08:23 in the morning! Mostly from America, I would love to know what show was on TV which would have provoked all these hits, can someone let me know please!

Navy Joke

South Africa - You too can travel to the land where the Oceanos Sank

It's amazing how many hits this website gets on a daily and weekly basis, I get messages from people who have never left their own country, but have heard that South Africa is a beautiful country yes it is. If you are interested in travelling to South Africa, go to this link http://www.southerndestinations.com/ and they will help you tailor your unforgettable trip of a life time to South Africa, if you contact liesl at southerndestinations dot com, please tell her you heard about them through this web site. http://oceanossinking.blogspot.com/ alternatively if you want help organising a low cost budget holiday to South Africa, contact me and I can help you plan it.

Have a look at some amazing photographs of nature in Southern Africa on : http://blog.earth-touch.com/index.php/archive/tags/bird

(c) photos taken by Rose-Marie Rowe

Discovery

Sunday morning ... I am up at about 8 too nervous to eat breakfast and then down to the study to look for all my Oceanos paraphernalia, which luckily did not take me long to find. Then quick bath get dressed and wait, they got lost so ended up only arriving after 10:30. Eric & Chris, they transformed our lounge into a Studio in a very short time, D took Em off to the dump to take all the garden refuse and then to feed the ducks just so that she was out the way. And then the interview started, I must say that they are the nicest people I have met in a long time, besides the French guys who interviewed me, but they were equally as nice. They made me feel really at ease and the interview although it went on for over an hour did not feel like it.

They then did some shots of me in the kitchen paging through my scrap book, D and Em came home just as Eric & Chris had finished packing up, we all got in the car and went off to the Dockland to get something to eat, Eric treated us to lunch at Milano's. It worked out really well as Milano's which is an Italian restaurant really caters for the children, they had a children's section with a box of toys and all the kids just congregate round the box of toys, giving the adults a time to chat and not really have to worry about them. After lunch and a bottle of wine, we went out to the River and Chris did some more shots and then some of D, Em and I. We had a lovely afternoon and headed home, only got home at about 4:30 but it was really nice.

I was exhausted by last night and fell into bed at 9:30, only to wake up 3 times and then get out of bed at 6:30 this morning (on a bank holiday). Em and I are going shopping today so lets see how the day pans out, till later have a wonderful week!

Wolraad Woltemade

Ever since I was a little girl of 9 years old, and I first heard this story in my history lesson it always fascinated me, and I remember crying for this brave man and the passengers on this ship that did not survive.

I found this information on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolraad_Woltemade and I hope it interests you.
Wolraad Woltemade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wolraad Woltemade (c.1708 - June 1, 1773) was a South African dairy farmer, who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship De Jonge Thomas in Table Bay on 1 June 1773.1


Early life
Woltemade was born in Hesse-Schoumberg, part of present-day Germany, around 1708 He migrated to the Dutch settlement at Cape Town (Kaapstad) and worked for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (known in English as the Dutch East India Company) as a dairyman. (Although the notion seems strange to modern minds, many of the earliest European colonies were established by commercial companies, rather than through the direct intervention of the governments of the European nations. See for example the history of the British South Africa Company).

Shipwreck
In the very early morning of 1 June, 1773 (early winter in the southern hemisphere), a sailing ship, De Jonge Thomas,2 was driven ashore in a gale on a sand bar at the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay. Many lives were lost as the ship started to break up but a substantial number of survivors were left clinging to the hull. The stricken ship was not too far from dry land and many sailors attempted to swim ashore. Most of those who did so perished; the water was cold and the current from the nearby Salt River too great. Apart from the very strongest swimmers, those who struck for the shore were carried out to sea.

A crowd of spectators stood on the beach. Some came to watch, others to try to help and yet others were hoping to loot the cargo that was being washed ashore. A detachment of soldiers was in attendance, to keep order amongst the mass. Corporal Christian Ludwig Woltemade, the youngest son of the by now elderly Wolraad, was amongst those standing guard. As daylight came, Wolraad left his home on horseback, taking provisions to his son.

Rescue
As he reached the beach, Wolraad was filled with pity for the sailors marooned aboard the wreck. Seeing that nothing could be done by those on the beach, he mounted his horse and urged the animal into the sea. As they approached the wreck Woltemade turned the horse and called for two men to jump into the sea and grasp the horse's tail. After a moment's hesitation two men threw themselves into the water and did so, whereupon Woltemade urged the horse forward and dragged them to shore. Wolraad rode out seven times, bringing back fourteen men. By this time he and his horse were exhausted but at that moment, as they rested, the ship began to collapse. Wolraad once more urged his horse into the water but by now the desperation amongst the sailors was tremendous. Seeing this as probably their last chance to escape before the ship was destroyed, six men plunged into the sea, grabbing at the horse. Their weight was too much for the exhausted steed; all were dragged below the waves and drowned. Woltemade's body was found the next day. His horse was called "Vonk".
Of the 191 souls on board, only 53 survived and of these 14 were saved by Woltemade.

Honour
Woltemade immediately became a hero. The Dutch East India Company provided amply for his widow and children. A suburb of Cape Town is named after him. The Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, instituted in 1939, bore a depiction of Woltemade's heroic act on its obverse. In 1970 the Woltemade Decoration for Bravery was instituted as the highest civilian decoration for bravery in South Africa. This was replaced in 1988 by the Woltemade Cross for Bravery. The Woltemade Cross was discontinued in 2002, as part of the move towards establishing a new South African honours system, following the advent of majority rule.

The Name
In old Dutch Wolraad means "good advice" or "well counselled". Woltemade is more problematic. It is possible to interpret it as "well made".

Notes
Most of those whose mother tongue is English will have difficulty pronouncing his name. Try VOLL (rhymes with knoll) RARD (rhymes with bard) VOLL TER MARDER).
Roughly, the young, or the younger Thomas
See also
Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery
External links
http://www.vocshipwrecks.nl/out_voyages8/jonge_thomas.html
References
Schirmer, P. 1980. The concise illustrated South African encyclopaedia. Central News Agency, Johannesburg, about 211pp.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolraad_Woltemade"
Categories: South African people

Bravery

It's great when people leave me comments or messages and especially questions because then I can get to blog again on this site. Lisa was asking me about the award that were received by the entertainers, I found a photo somewhere of the entertainers getting the award I will see if I can locate it.

Here is some information that I found on http://www.geocities.com/militaf/4-mno.htm

Oceanos Sea Rescue (1991) - A successful air force and naval operation to rescue 402 passengers from the sinking cruise liner Oceanos. It yielded more decorations than any other single event in South Africa: an Honoris Crux Gold, an Honoris Crux Silver and four Honoris Cruxes to navy personnel, and 27 Air Force Crosses to helicopter aircrew. Twelve years later, the new Mendi Decoration for Bravery was awarded collectively to the rescue operation.

Order of Mendi for Bravery - Instituted in 2003 as the Mendi Decoration for Bravery, and renamed as an order in 2004. It is awarded in three classes - Gold (OMBG), Silver (OMBS), and Bronze (OMBB) - to civilians and military personnel for bravery in saving lives. I found this photo on: http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/recipients/recipients2003.pdf Medi decoration for bravery in Silver.

Within 25 minutes of confirming that the Oceanos, with 587 passengers and crew on board was in distress along the coast, near East London, the Officer Commanding Rescue Co-ordination Centre launched a rescue mission which has become a textbook illustration of maritime rescue professionalism, indeed a benchmark studied by many rescue centres across the world.
Helicopters were immediately dispatched from Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town, and other ships
and craft in the vicinity were summoned to provide immediate assistance to the ship.

The first SANDF personnel on the scene found it to be listing badly to the starboard side and in imminent danger of sinking. South African Navy divers set about destroying cables and other protuberances to enable the rescue helicopters to get in closer to facilitate quicker evacuation.
Complementing a rescue operation by boat, the SAAF helicopters executed a seamless operation,
with helicopter after helicopter ferrying to shore, passengers and crew hoisted up from the badly listed ship.

When 21 passengers remained unaccounted for, erroneously as it turned, Navy divers reentered
the badly listed ship which they searched from stern to stern. The last divers were finally
evacuated after they were certain that no one was left behind, merely 25 minutes before the
Oceanos sank. All 587 passengers and crew were rescued with no loss of life.

The complicated mission demonstrated outstanding inter-service co-operation and tested the flying and diving skills, airmanship, judgement, dedication, endurance and perseverance of all SADF personnel involved in the operation. Moreover, all the navy and airforce personnel involved distinguished themselves by placing themselves in imminent danger throughout the mission.

The Oceanos Rescue Mission is a remarkable feat in the annals of maritime history which received much international acclaim and praise.

THE MEDI AWARD FOR BRAVERY IN SILVER WAS AWARDED TO MEMBERS OF THE UNITS OF THE FORMER SADF INVOLVED IN THE OCEANOS RESCUE MISSION FOR ACTS OF BRAVERY AND VALOUR DISPLAYED DURING THE RESCUE MISSION TO SAVE
PASSENGERS AND CREW OF THE OCEANOS CRUISE LINER IN AUGUST 1991

Hello

I am the worst I missed our Oceanos Anniversary on the 4th of August this year. It was 17 years this year since the Oceanos sank, I always finds that the hits to this site increase come this time of the year as a lot of TV stations are showing the disaster.

Well I packed up home, moved house, unpacked, packed you know how it goes so all the scrap books are sitting at the bottom of the cupboard in the study just waiting to be opened and scanned in. But now in the new house I have not managed to connect to wireless broadband yet, so I am currently working off a glass table in the passage as this is the only place I can put the laptop that is close enough to the telephone plug to be able to work.

I will get round to it, yes I say that but in the meantime I have been offered a job and my precious angel is starting school tomorrow in 1st Grade, so heaven knows when I will eventually get round to doing all the things I need to do. I never even got round to booking myself on the Internet course, oh dear!

Thanks everyone for reading and staying interested, I will try and get working on this blog once again soon.

Exciting

Hi Everyone,

I have had some really exciting emails which unfortunately I can not disclose as yet, but some really exciting documentaries are going to be produced and more than likely at source (in South Africa), I am also going to do a Web design course and then will be creating an Oceanos website with all the information that is on this blog, this will more than likely take about a year to do, so watch this space. So lots of things happening just slowly!

I will also eventually in about a month or 2 be able to unpack all my boxes with my scrap book stuff from the Oceanos and then post it all up.

A message that made me so thrilled.

I received another message in my Guest Book, here is the message:

Name: Nicholas
Date: 03-Jun-2008

Message
I am 10 years old and we learnt about the Oceanos in school to day. I came home to look it up on the internet and found your site. Thank you for all the useful information! I really learnt a lot.

I was thrilled because Nicholas who is only 10 was not even born at the time of the Oceanos, and equally as thrilled that they are learning about it in school. I guess I will be a part of history after all.

David Van der Sandt

What a nice surprise it was to have another welcome message in my guest book, this time it was from one of the Medics who helped with the rescue operation, here is the message:

Name: David van der Sandt
Date: 31-May-2008

Message:

What a pleasant surprise to come across such a comprehensive history of the sinking of the Oceanos. I was one of the SANDF medics that flew up from Port Elizabeth to assist. I still a life jacket that my medical team signed. Please forward me an e mail address so i can send you some pic's

Regards
Dave

So I got in touch with Dave and he sent me the picture below, he said he will send me another one soon. (David) I have two pics, the first one is from a news paper in PE at the time. It is me on the right the doctor on the left and one of my medics in the middle. The guy wrapped in the blanket is the casino manager or someone that worked in the casino that was fished out of the water. What i remember about this guy is that he was very worried about us taking his jacket off. After we took it off we could not understand why it was so heavy, then we discovered his pockets were full of R 50 notes. The second one i will forward later it was published in a book called 'Choppers' a history of helicopter operations in SA. It has a whole chapter on the Oceanos rescue. I will scan it and forward to you once i am home in about a week's time

Panic???

The video on "youtube" about the sinking of the Oceanos, has the narrator saying that "passengers aboard the cruise ship Oceanos begin to panic when the ship starts sinking". I just wanted to say that I don't remember anyone panicking, as far as I and most of the people I have spoken to, only remember everyone being very calm and orderly and in some instances too calm.

The Reason behind this blog ...

Hi Everyone,

I haven't done a post here for ages and was just thinking the other day that had it not been for Derek and his website http://www.allatsea.co.za/oceanosmainpage.htm I would never have created this blog. Derek has the most interesting website and although his main interest are ships he has so much about South Africa. I also need to say a really big thank you to him as he has a link from his web site to my blog page and I am sure I receive quite a few hits because of this.

I hope that anyone who creates another web page about the Oceanos based on what I have done, will also put a link to my blog.

I know I have been really bad posting stuff but hopefully I will find time soon to do this, but in the meantime remember that this is the original "Oceanos Sinking" web blog, we were first and we shall remain first!

Thank you to everyone who has made contributions to my blog, I am very grateful, long live the Oceanos blog.

INFORMATION PLEASE

If you know of any passengers who were on the Oceanos the day she sank, please email me with names, if you have already emailed me but noticed that I have not made changes to the blog then please email me again.

Thank You

Rose

The Oceanos Brochure

I had forgotten I had the Oceanos Brochure amongst my scrap book, I emailed this off to the Japanese TV Company in August last year and totally forgot to put them up on my blog, this is cover of the brochure, I will try and keep the page numbers in order.

Oceanos Deck Plans

Brochure - Cruise Dates & Prices

The Cruise we were on falls under July in the Brochure, it was two cruises however instead of stopping in Port Elizabeth, the itinerary was changed to stop in East London, the reason for this was that all the passengers on board would spend 1 night at the Holiday Inn in East London and 1 night at the Fish River sun, this was because the ship had be rented out for a wedding.

All the passengers would get back on the ship on the 3rd of August along with additional passengers who were joining the cruise in East London, and it would sail over night to Durban where most passengers would disembark, from there the ship would have sailed to Madagascar and Mauritius leaving Durban on the 4th of August, which as we all know was not to be.

Excellent Video about the Sinking & Rescue

http://www.glumbert.com/media/cruise - This video is excellent!

A Captains Tale

I am not sure if I put this on the blog before but it provides very amusing reading!

http://www.iht.com/articles/1991/08/08/ship.php

Japanese TV company

There is a Japanese TV company doing a documentary on the Oceanos, if there are any passengers or crew that are interested, please email me at oceanos.survivors(at)gmail.com. They are based in London so you won't have to go all the way to Japan!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!

To all my fellow Oceanos survivors, happy 16th anniversary. Hope you all have a wonderful day and remember how we were all given a second chance.

By the way I received my DVD's from the French interview, one of my collegues are going to show me how to put snippets up on the internet and then everyone can see it.

Message from another survivor

My name is Mignon Knoetze and I am a survivor of the Oceanos. I was working for South African Airways at the time. A lot of my friends and colleauges where on the Oceanos with me. I got onto the last life boat to leave the Oceanos. Being launched was very traumatic because of the weather but only the beginning of a long cold and frightening night. The life boat was ill equiped for our needs. During the night we tried to board one of the many ships trying to rescue us but because of the bad weather we could not even get close. We where on the life boat until it started getting light. At first light we heard an aircraft flying overhead. The nearest ship to us was the Great Nancy which was a huge oil tanker. The weather had not improved much so when we tried to approach the ship the life boat slammed into the side of the ship and we all nearly landed up in the propellor. We where all hauled up the side of the ship by the crew of the ship using ropes. The crew where wonderful to us and they did everything to make us comfortable with their limited resources. We sailed to Durban on the Great Nancy overnight. We where taken to a rescue centre where we where given something to eat. We where also allowed to make a phone call and checked by doctors before going to a hotel to clean up before being flown home via Johannesburg to East London. My parents and I where on the front page of the Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London. My brothers Etienne and Eugene where a great support to my parents while waiting to hear if I had survived. I would like to mention some other survivors that I do not see on your list who worked for or who are still working for South African Airways in East London. Eugene Sweetnam who has since passed away, Trevor Godden, Leeanne Strauss, Natalie Measures now Du Plessis, Andrew Montfort, Glen Hurn, Kevin Putzier, Merril Binneman

Oceanos: Deep Quest - Incredible

Well I watched the DVD the day I received it, but have not had anytime to update the blog. It was absolutely incredible and anyone who ever sailed on the Oceanos should buy this DVD. The DVD is about the first successful dive to the Oceanos which lies at the bottom of the Ocean almost 100 meters down, not far from "The hole in the wall", right in the path of the most treacherous and powerful current in the world the Agulhas current.

I think Barry Coleman must be the most incredible diver I have ever seen, all the guys who did the dive including the cameraman were very brave to do the dive, but the photography and images are something that you will remember all your life.

I am not a diver and don't see myself ever doing any dives, so this DVD I will treasure for the rest of my life and will watch it often.

For details on where to obtain the DVD please look at the post further down on this blog.

"Thank You" Andre Shirley!

Today my DVD arrived from Andre and before I say anymore I am going to pop it into the DVD player and watch it now! Thank you once again Andre and if you want a copy please look at Andre's contact details further down in the blog on how to order one.

Simulation of the Sinking of the Oceanos

Michael O'mahoney sent me this post that someone found on Youtube, it is a simulation of the sinking of the Oceanos and pretty interesting:

SURVIVE THIS : "Sinking of the Oceanos" 2007

At the begining of this year 2007 a reproduction of "Survive this - The sinking of the Oceanos" was broadcast on television, if anyone can provide me with a copy of this on DVD please email me. I have one that was broadcast back in the 90's also called Survive this (I think), but this is a new one.

Dive of "The Oceanos" DVD

Hi There,

Well I managed to contact a guy called Andre Shirley who did a dive to the Oceanos, he is sending me a copy of the DVD and has the same DVD on sale for anyone interested in receiving a copy. Prices will depend on costs of shipping and packaging, so if you would like to drop him and email at the following address please do so:

IANTD

Andre Shirley

http://www.iantd.co.za/

info@iantd.co.za

Once I receive the DVD and watch it I will tell you all about it here, my DVD from Vince in Paris is also on it's way - so I'm looking forward to some DVD watching!

I found this photograph on: http://www.deeperblue.net/article.php/439/%200/1 by Phillip G Van Rensburg who has his wonderful account of his dive on this site, please have a read it is really interesting.

Comments on "The Fax"

Barry Ronge comments on the fax that was sent out soon after the Oceanos sank, read the fax in the next post.

The fax that caused a stir

On board itinerary 3rd and 4th of August 1991

I happened to take my handbag with me when I was rescued on the helicopter and amongst some very important things that a woman always keeps in her handbag I managed to have the itinerary for the day, here is a scanned copy:

Photos taken from the Helicopter 040891

Passengers from Bloemfontein and Welkom

I received an E-mail from Mervyn, (this always tends to happen when I think that nobody reads my blog) Mervyn was a passenger on the Oceanos, he was the manager at Rennies in Bloemfontein in 1991, he has provided me with a list of the passengers from Rennies in Bloem and Welkom - Thank you Mervyn.

Hopefully we will get Mervyn's story to publish here and maybe a photograph.

Thanks once again Mervyn - Here is the list:

From Rennies Travel Bloemfontein:
Kotzé Mervyn
Kotzé Nicky
Hanton Peter
Hanton Maria
de Villiers Nell
de Villiers Anneli
Sarluis Michael (deceased)
Sarluis Nerina
Madden Frank
Madden Beaulah
Burger Sandra
Burger SP
Malherbe Nicolette
Holmes Liesel (deceased)
Mostert Mossie
Mostert Heleen
du Toit Wouter
du Toit Jeanette
van Zyl Anne
Geyer Shelley

From Rennies Travel Welkom:
de' Ath David
de' Ath Charmaine
van Wyk André
van Wyk Daphné
van der Watt Neels
van der Watt Jo-Anne

People involved in the Oceanos Resucue operation

Paul Wylie - Navy Diver

N.S.R.I.

SAAF

S.A.N.D.F.

15 Squadron

19 Squadron

22 Squadron - Ysterplaat

Ships involved in the Oceanos Rescue Operation

MS Kaszuby II
Nedlloyd Mauritius
The Great Nancy
The Reefer Duchess

TFC Crew

TFC Crew members aboard the Oceanos on the 4th of August 2007. Please note that these lists are not complete and as I get names I will add them to the list.

Betts Lorraine
Boltman Robin
Collison Alvon
Ellis Kevin
Greig Lynne
Hills Moss
Hills Tracey
Lester Terry
Louw Mara
Russell Julian
Schouw Tina