In Bremerhaven, the cruise liner Mein Schiff 3 collided with a container ship

Collision at the port of Bremerhaven

The cruise liner Mein Schiff 3 collided with a container ship in the evening while departing from its berth at the port of Bremerhaven in northern Germany, the German newspaper Nordsee-Zeitung reports. According to the outlet, the incident occurred during the passenger ship's unmooring: the liner began to pull away from the berth and, while maneuvering, struck a container ship moored nearby.

Damage and casualties

As a result of the impact, a crack appeared in the hull of the cargo ship about ten meters long. The German tabloid Bild reports that no one aboard either vessel was injured.

Likely cause

Difficult weather conditions may have been the preliminary cause of the collision. According to Nordsee-Zeitung, at the time of the incident the port was experiencing strong gusts of storm-force wind, which may have made it difficult to control the cruise liner as it departed the berth. The reports do not include official findings of the investigation, so the final cause of the accident remains unknown.

Context

The Life.ru editorial team also recalls a recent incident off the coast of Norway, where at night in Valderhaugfjord near the city of Ålesund, two cargo ships and an oil tanker collided. Rescue services received a distress signal at around 01:37 local time; water began to enter one of the vessels. A rescue helicopter, a Norwegian Navy ship, and maritime rescue teams were dispatched to the scene. There were no casualties or evacuations: two of the vessels reached the berth on their own, while the third remained at anchor. Both incidents show that maneuvering vessels in the confined conditions of ports and fjords in difficult weather remains a source of accidents even without loss of life — for ports, this means additional checks of mooring procedures and assessments of vessels' condition after such collisions.