Two ferry crashes and multiple ship groundings highlight the navigational dangers and salvage requirements worldwide.
A collision between a passenger ship and a container ship in the Mediterranean and a fast ferry with a bulk carrier in Indonesia indicate more needs to be done to prevent maritime accidents.
Tunisian ferry Ulysse collided with container ship CSL Virginia off the coast of Corsica on 8 October. This container ship had been anchored north of Cap Corse, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, since the end of September and was not moving at the time of the accident.
A fleet of search and rescue vessels and salvage tugs were mobilised to the ship crash to assist people on board, for oil spill response and to uncouple the two vessels. This final operation was achieved on 11 October by salvage tugs.
There is extensive damage to both vessels with Ulysse's bow almost totally destroyed and the starboard hull of CSL Virginia badly punctured. Tugs continue to recover oil and prevent this accident becoming an environmental disaster. Authorities said around 200 m3 of bunkers has been cleared up.
Tugs remained at the site while damage to the ships was assessed and decisions made how to tow them to safe ports for further inspections. According to Fleetmon, tugs started to tow Ulysse to a port in France or Italy on 12 October.
In Indonesia, fast ferry VOC Batavia collided with bulk carrier Pacific Crown on 11 October, according to local reports. The ferry was sailing from Anambas, Riau Archipelago, in Indonesia to Tanjungpinang, on Bintan island, with 153 passengers on board.
As VOC Batavia struck the bulker, passengers and crew were injured. Both vessels were being assisted to Singapore for inspections and damage assessment.
Also in southeast Asia, tugs were mobilised to assist a damaged cargo ship in Taoyuan, north west of Taiwan. Zhen Feng was intentionally beached after water ingress to prevent it from sinking. Its 12 crew were evacuated and tugs were at the site to start salvaging the ship, although reports suggested these operations were hampered by adverse weather.
In Russia, tugs were sent to an accident on the Don River to refloat a grounded ship. On 7 October, general cargo vessel Salsk ran aground with a cargo of wheat on board. According to Vesseltracker, Russian tug Dobrynya was mobilised to refloat the ship, but it was unsuccessful.
Two more tugs were then sent to the scene to remove the ship from the river bed. Rogda arrived first and was then assisted by tug OT-15042 to refloat Salsk and tow it to a deepwater anchorage for inspection.
Tugs were also sent to assist a ship sailing from Russia to Turkey when it reported a problem. General cargo ship Nila anchored in the Kerch Strait area of the Azov Sea after reporting water ingress from a hull crack. Several tugs were sent to assist this coal carrying ship to a safe harbour. They towed Nila to an anchorage in the Kerch Strait near the port of Kavkaz.
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