VZCZCXRO5061
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0364 2571437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141437Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2875
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS FREETOWN 000364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHSA EWWT SL
SUBJECT: SMALL BOAT CAPSIZES: OVER 200 PASSENGERS BELIEVED 
DEAD 
 
¶1. Summary: On September 8 a small boat capsized off the 
coast of Sierra Leone, killing over 200 passengers on board. 
Overloading of both passengers and cargo, improper 
monitoring, poor weather and a slow rescue response have been 
blamed for the disaster. The country is in mourning as the 
chance of finding further survivors disappeared over the 
weekend. End Summary. 
 
¶2. A boat capsized on September 8 in the Yawri Bay, Moyamba 
District, while carrying passengers to the large fishing 
community of Tombo outside of Freetown. Two different 
manifests were retrieved from the almost sunken boat by a 
naval rescue team the following day. In one, a legal Sierra 
Leone Maritime Administration document, 41 passengers were 
registered. The other, written in an ordinary school exercise 
book, had 251 adults registered, though this number excluded 
the large quantity of students and small infants reportedly 
also along for the ride. The illegal manifest also contained 
the boat's cargo meant for trading at the ship's destination, 
which included over 4000 gallons of palm oil, dozens of bags 
of groundnuts, cement, and fish. The small outboard boat, 
called a "panpam," was only meant to carry a maximum of 125 
passengers. News reports have indicated that 37 people have 
been rescued, while only 8 bodies have been recovered. The 
remaining passengers are believed dead, including over 50 
children. 
¶3. Though reports about the accident vary, reliable sources 
indicate that the boat capsized around midday. The boat 
lacked a communications device and news of the incident only 
reached awaiting relatives and friends in Tombo around 20:00 
that night. At that point, there was little naval officers in 
the area could do until morning, as the only "rescue" vessel 
available was a small fiberglass boat which would be 
dangerously exposed during a night mission. The navy was 
therefore forced to wait until early morning on September 9 
to begin looking for survivors - roughly 20 hours after the 
accident. 
¶4. Sierra Leonean law sets regulations for panpams and the 
common routes are supposed to be monitored by officials from 
the Ministry of Transport and Aviation. The capsized boat was 
apparently allowed to leave port without monitoring or 
sufficient life vests on board. Due to government shortfalls, 
no monitor was assigned to the port of departure, Kargboro, 
so the responsibility of enforcement rested with the 
receiving port of Tombo. The public is outraged over the 
incident, placing blame on both the Sierra Leone Maritime 
Administration Monitors and boat owners who allow boats to 
regularly be overloaded. Many throughout the country are 
calling for tougher laws to prosecute those guilty of 
overloading, though the government's ability to implement 
such laws is limited. 
FEDZER