Emergency Alert Leads NSRI Rescuers to 5 Paddlers Lost in Dense Fog

Photo Credit: NSRI via Facebook

Thanks to one timely SafeTRX emergency alert, NSRI rescuers found five paddlers lost in dense Cape Town fog and brought them safely back to shore.

Cape Town, South Africa (15 October 2026) – Thanks to a timely NSRI SafeTRX emergency alert, five paddlers disoriented in dense fog off Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard were safely rescued on Tuesday morning.

NSRI Table Bay and NSRI Bakoven duty crews were activated after receiving a distress signal sent from a sea kayak off Three Anchor Bay. The NSRI Emergency Operations Centre quickly established that the group comprised two local women aged 60 and 59, and three German male tourists, aged 35, 26 and 21, who had launched earlier from the Three Anchor Bay slipway in one single and two double kayaks.

Only one person in the group was using the NSRI SafeTRX app. Its emergency beacon showed that the paddlers were drifting towards Bantry Bay, giving rescue teams a vital indication of where to search.

Dean Wegerle, NSRI regional operations manager, said communication with the lead kayaker confirmed that the group had lost its bearings in the fog and that although they could not tell which direction led back to land, they stayed together while waiting for help.

At the time, the NSRI training department was preparing for routine exercises at the Table Bay Station 3 rescue base. They launched a rescue craft, while NSRI Table Bay and NSRI Bakoven duty crews remained on alert. An NSRI Atlantic Seaboard rescue swimmer also responded along Sea Point Beach Road.

Members of Atlantic Adventures, a local tourist kayak company based at Granger Bay, volunteered to assist after spotting three kayakers. They launched their safety support craft and accompanied them safely ashore.

Wegerle said it was then confirmed that these were not the paddlers who had raised the alarm. Continuing the search through dense fog, the NSRI rescue craft located the five missing paddlers off Saunders Rocks, 1.3 nautical miles offshore of Clifton.

“The five casualty kayakers were rescued onto our NSRI rescue craft, and they were treated for mild hypothermia. Their sea kayaks were recovered. All were in good spirits,” said Wegerle.

Following the successful rescue, Wegerle appealed to people paddling in a group to download and use the NSRI SafeTRX smartphone safety app, as sea and weather conditions can separate paddlers, and having it can help rescuers locate them quickly when every moment matters.