While the resulting oil spill is minimal, SanParks and Sanccob are on alert in case nearby penguin colonies are affected.

On the morning of Monday, 25 September, after an intense weather system hit the Cape at the weekend, the CS Cable Restorer finally sank in Simon's Town, 79 years after it was built.

The cable ship - decommissioned in 1993 - is under the ownership of seasoned mariner and previous Simon's Town mayor, Harry Dilley, who has for the past few years been investing funds in its maintenance, cutting it down for scrap and dismantling it after the Simon's Town Museum could no longer afford it to keep it as a museum.

For the past few years, the vessel has been tied to the South African Navy's Outer West Breakwater, a barrier to protect the inside of the harbour from surge waves. The Navy clarifies the breakwater is outside the Naval Dockyard, close to the False Bay Yacht Club side of Simon's Town harbour.

"The SA Navy made numerous appeals to the owners of the vessel to have it removed over the last few years," the SA Navy said on Saturday. "Unfortunately this was never adhered to."

Dilley and his spokesperson were approached by Daily Maverick several times for comment, but a spokesperson said they would not be able...