Mayday Off the Wild Coast

In August 1991, excited holiday-makers boarded the Oceanos at East London for the trip of a lifetime. Despite treacherous weather, the captain ordered the ship to set sail for Durban, South Africa. And so began the ill-fated voyage. Hurricane force winds and giant rogue waves aggravated the hostile storm. Soon the ship started taking water. Panicked senior crew members scrambled into lifeboats leaving the ship's evacuation to the on-board entertainers. In Mayday Off the Wild Coast, maritime lawyer Andrew Pike, who was part of the legal investigation into the Oceanos' sinking, recreates the compelling drama and extraordinary heroism of the greatest maritime rescue in South African history.