The investigation into the collision involving a roll on/rolloff vessel and a containership in the Mediterranean Sea last October identified human errors on a multitude of levels as the root cause of the accident.
According to Tunisian, French and Cypriot investigators who revealed their findings on Monday, the investigation revealed that the watch officer on board the Tunisian ro-ro ULYSSE was alone on the bridge and on his phone, far away from radar, at the time of the collision early on October 7th.
Officers on the Cypriot container ship CSL VIRGINIA also did not attend to radar alarms, investigators questioned why the ship had dropped anchor in the middle of a shipping lane.
The ULYSSE was underway from Genoa, Italy to Tunisia when she collided with the CSL VIRGINIA which was at anchor approximately 17 miles of the island of Corsica early in the morning on 7 October 2018. The collision resulted in the bow of the ULYSSE penetrating deep into the hull of the containership, resulting in the release of some 500 cubic meter of heavy fuel oil.
The two ships remained connected for days before they were seperated. See below image on the 12th October, 2018 at 0218 hrs.
Damage to the vessels was estimated at 13.5 million euros, plus cleanup costs estimated at 10 million euros.
Below are images of the container ship CSL VIRGINIA leaving Valletta, Malta back to 1st April,2017 fresh from drydocking at Palumbo Malta Shipyard Ltd.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com