NSRI to act against hoax calls

By Rhodé Marshall
06 August 2007

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has decided to lodge a complaint with the police regarding continuous hoax calls that have left them searching the sea in vain.

“For months the NSRI stations along the False Bay coastline, particularly NSRI Strandfontein and Gordon’s Bay, have been plagued by at least seven distress calls,” says NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.

Lambinon says all these calls seem to have had similar distress call situations which on investigations were proved false.

“We suspect these incidents are the work of one individual with malicious intent,” says Lambinon.

He added that the NSRI would lodge a complaint within the next few days after gathering sufficient evidence.

“The calls were often received on a Sunday and in all the cases the messages were fairly incomplete from the caller.

The caller would say they were in an emergency distress situation, only giving a vague idea of where they were before communication was lost,” says Lambinon.

All though each search operation’s cost were different, Lambinon says a search could cost up to R60 000.

“We ask for anyone with information on the suspected hoax distress calls to contact their nearest police station,” says Lambinon.