Aftermath of the Stena Spirit hitting a container gantry crane in the port of Gdynia
It has been a busy couple of days for ship collisions and allisions. Yesterday, the USS Essex, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, collided with the USNS Yukon, a Navy Oiler, during underway replenishment operations about 120 miles off the coast of Southern California. In Poland, the ferry Stena Spirit knocked over a container crane this morning in the port of Gdynia. No deaths were reported in either accident.
The Essex is reported to have had a steering gear failure, precipitating the two ships coming into contact. Neither ship was seriously damaged, no oil was spilled and no crew was reported hurt. The Essex arrived in San Diego this morning.
Navy Ships Collide Off Southern California Coast
This morning, the Swedish ferry Stena Spirit hit a container gantry crane as it manoeuvred near the dock in the Polish port of Gdynia. Three workers were reported to be injured but no deaths were reported. The gantry crane, in the Baltic Container Terminal, collapsed, damaging stacks of containers. Ironically, only yesterday the terminal had issued a press release announcing the planned purchase of £30m of new equipment to upgrade the facility. The upgrade may need to be accelerated.
The contact between the USS Essex and the USNS Yukon was technically a collision, while the Stena Spirit hitting the container cranes was an allision as the ship hit a fixed object. Whatever one calls it, the impact created quite a mess.
Thanks to Phil Leon and Miroslav at Antic.org fro contributing to this post.