When the veteran salvage tug SA Amandla (built 1976) next casts off its moorings in Cape Town, it will not be racing to save another casualty like it has done for the past 47 years. It will instead be heading for a recycling yard on the Indian subcontinent.

Time has finally caught up with the famous tug that has frequently made front-page headlines for its daring efforts to rescue vessels in trouble off the African coastline.