Maritime Casualties--March 4, 2010
Latest maritime casualty news.
• Three Crew Killed After Ship Slams into Pier
Three crew members were killed after a Costa Europa cruise liner crashed into a pier as it was docking last Friday morning at a Egyptian Red Sea resort.
The Italian shipping line, Costa Crociere, owns the luxury cruise ship and provided hotel and arrangements for the almost 1,500 passengers on board who needed to return to their home countries. According to witnesses and local reports, violent winds and weather rocked the cruise ship overnight, causing the vessel to slam part way onto the pier in Sharm el-Sheik.
A six-foot hole in the hull of the 55,000-tonne ship, built in 1986. Costa Europa is one of 16 cruise ships belonging to the Genoa, Italy-based Costa Crociera line, the Italian subsidiary of Carnival Corp, and had been on an 18-day cruise from Dubai to Savona.
• Ship Sinks off St. Lucia
A container ship with an excess of 15,000-tonnes of cargo bound for Barbados capsized and partially sank off St. Lucia's coast near Vieux-Fort last Sunday night. No one was injured but the cause of the incident is unknown, but according to some reports, a possible sudden starboard list could have been the culprit.
The 6704 GT, Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, 657-teu container ship, ANGELN, was en route to Guyana and was departing the port of Vieux-Fort just after midnight when the incident occurred. Statements from the owner, Brise Bereederungs report the ship did not touch ground and a collision did not take place.
The ship was part of a Miami, Fla.-based Bernuth Line and lost all cargo to the Caribbean Sea.
• Tongan Ferry Captain Arrested and Charged over Sinking
The captain of the 37-year-old Tongan ferry Princess Ashika, which sank last year causing 74 deaths, was arrested last Tuesday and charged with five counts of knowingly sailing the unseaworthy vessel. The captain, Maka Tuputupu was released on bail last Thursday.
The ferry sank last August while traveling from Nuku'alofa to another island in the region. According to inquiry reports, Princess Ashika was full of rust and seawater leaked into the ship's cargo hold on its final voyage.
The captain's five charges relate to five sailings made under his captaincy. He admitted he had knowledge of the ferry's defects, but he believed he did not hold any authority to stop the ferry from sailing.
Other statements came forth which indicate neither the operator of the vessel, Shipping Corporation of Polynesia, or Tonga's Ministry of Transport had conducted thorough checks on the ferry when it was bought in Fiji.
The suspended chief executive of the operator was also charged last week with forgery and using a forged document to advise the Tongan government about the vessel. He has been released on bail.
Police investigations are underway as well as the Royal Commission of Inquiry.
• Appeals Court Releases Ukrainian Captain on Bail
A court of appeals in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China released the convicted captain of the Ukrainian Naftogaz-67 tugboat, Yuriy Kulemesin, on bail after a court meeting last Friday.
The Naftogaz-67 and the Chinese Yao Hai bulk cargo ship collided in the South China Sea March of 2008. The Ukrainian vessel sank within minutes, and only seven of 25 on board were rescued. The bodies of the remaining sailors were found a month later.
Last month the District Court in Hong Kong found the captains and two pilots of both vessels guilty of a maritime disaster.
Kulemesin was sentenced to three years and two months in jail, the Chinese ship's captain and pilot were both jailed for two years and four months.