The skipper of a fishing boat says he was fired upon by a warship during a naval exercise near Cape Agulhas.
The Task Group comprises the flagship Hessen and frigates Karlsruhe and Brandenburg about 20 nautical miles offshore. The Brandenburg is essentially a supply ship. Built in 1984, the Karlsruhe is a Bremen-class frigate and the Hessen is a more modern (2006) Sachsen-class frigate.
The Cape Times reported on Friday that the incident happened during a joint naval exercise between the SA Navy and German navy early on Wednesday morning.
Commercial fisherman Anthony Day told the newspaper he and nine crew members set off from Struisbaai harbour at about 02:30 in his 28-foot ski boat.
He headed in the opposite direction from the Denel missile testing range at De Hoop, but later saw a ship approaching. Next thing three heavy-calibre shots went off in quick succession, landing about 15 metres from them.
The two navies fired their surface-to-air missile systems and shot at surface targets.
The German RIM-7 Sea Sparrow ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system and the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) infrared homing surface-to-air missile were used, along with a 76 mm gun and smaller calibre weapons.
The SA Navy fired two Umkhonto vertically-launched, high-velocity, infrared homing surface-to-air missiles manufactured by Denel Dynamics, and also used a 76 mm gun and smaller weapons.
The fishing boat immediately switched on deck lights and tried to radio the vessel but got no response. He radioed Cape Town Radio telling them he’d been shot at.
Cape Town Radio then made contact with the military vessel. The commander had said the shots had been fired in error. The SA Navy and German navy told the Cape Times they were unaware of the incident and would release a statement.