Ali van Os and the JeMaSa

by Neil Langford on 2 Mar 2009 Ali van Os, the daughter of Lex Silvester and Joanne van Os, died last week, five days after receiving terrible injuries in a tragic marina accident. Lex, Joanne and Ali had anchored their yacht SV Malaika at Chalong Bay in Phuket.

Whilst visiting friends at Yacht Haven Marina, Ali went to watch the berthing of a large (50 metre) super yacht - the motor yacht MY JeMaSa.

I've been told that the JeMaSa berthed perfectly, and was stationary with all lines firmed up on the dock when the accident occurred. Apparently the master had berthed the vessel using remote controls on a wing bridge on port side.

After berthing he left the wing bridge, however the engines were not shut down. A crew member then came along to replace the weather cover on the controls and pushed the throttles forward as was required to fit the covers (!). It apparently took some time for the engines to surge to maximum revolutions, during which time the onlookers on the dock were desperately trying to raise the attention of the crew on the vessel.

As the tension increased people started to move away - someone tried to warn young Ali but the cleat on the dock failed first, releasing the loop in a heavy spring line that whipped past Ali, hit her and threw her many metres along the dock. Other people were also injured, with one man suffering a broken leg.

Despite the best efforts of local doctors and emergency services, Ali never recovered consciousness. After exhaustive medical testing, her family and consulting doctors turned off life support five days later. Ali was one of the world's enthusiasts - a very bright star.