In the Australian city Port Lincoln wharf a Liberian container ship has collided with a moored tuna vessel, sinking it and damaging the wharf. Senior Sergeant Graham Schaedel from South Australian Police says that the incident took place at around 3pm on Friday afternoon when the grain carrier the 225 meter MV ‘Grand Rodosi’ was coming into berth.
“It was coming into moor and obviously some difficulties have occurred and the bow of that vessel has collided with the port side of the tuna boat,†he said.
Eye witnesses have explained that when the container ship and the tuna vessel collided it was like watching a can opener on a can of baked beans.
“That’s what we have heard and obviously police have obtained statements from eye witnesses,†the senior sergeant said.
Superintendent Brad Flaherty adds that the Monrovian ship appeared to get into trouble, before the collision.
“When the Redosi was actually backed off, the Apollo S appears to have rolled onto its side and part of the jetty had collapsed on top of it. We’ve got Metropolitan Fires Service who are controlling the scene around the sunken Apollo S and police doing the coordination role in behind.â€
According to police, those who saw the incident take place include “the berthing crew - they were waiting for the boat to berth and they witnessed it, and there were some other people working on boatsâ€.
The 47 meter long tuna boat is the Motor Fishing Vessel (MFV) Apollo S, one of the largest in tuna mogul Sam Sarin’s fleet - worth an estimated $17 million and despite its large size, police say the vessel took only “20 to 25 minutes†to sink.
Police believe there were no crew on board the fishing vessel at the time.
“All the crew are accounted for, the last crew on there was a workman at 12.30pm todayâ€
Emergency service crews have established the closed off area around the Port Lincoln wharf to try and minimize the spread of oil from the collision.
“We’re in a clean-up stage, obviously there’s been an oil spill and a diesel spillage and we're trying to contain that at the moment before it reaches Port Lincoln’s beaches.
“There’s substantial damage to the jetty (Wharf) and I believe there’s also damage to the bow of the freighter,†senior sergeant Schaedel said.
