Container ships collide outside Port Louis

MSC ship deliberately grounded
TERRY HUTSON
AN MSC container ship, the 2562-TEU MSC Katie, was deliberately run aground by two Port Louis harbour tugs during the early hours of last Friday (April 22) following a collision with another container vessel, the Maersk/Safmarine chartered Nordsun (1158-TEU).
According to a senior pilot at Port Louis the collision outside the port entrance left MSC Katie with a large gash below the waterline and in danger of sinking.
“The ship’s engine room was flooded and all power was lost. We had to take the decision to run her onto the reef to prevent the ship from sinking,” the pilot told FTW on Friday.
Damage to the Nordsun was confined to the bow section well above the waterline, but MSC Katie is reported to have several long gashes both above and below the waterline, which led to flooding of the engine room and no.7 hold.
In a statement issued from MSC headquarters in Geneva, blame for the collision was placed firmly on the Nordsun.
It said that MSC Katie was on her way out of Port Louis when she was “…hit by the MV Nordsun which was heading towards the port without pilot on board and without waiting for the clearance of the MSC Katie.
“While MSC Katie tried her utmost to avoid the collision, same became impossible as the possibilities to manoeuvre were nil in view of the narrow channel and the high speed of the MV Nordsun.”
The statement said there were no injuries on board MSC Katie, cargo was intact and no pollution had occurred.
Safmarine declined to comment on the incident but referred FTW to the vessel owners, Reederei ‘Nord’ Klaus E Oldendorff in Limassol.
In September last year vessels from the same companies were involved in a collision, this time outside Durban, when Nordsun’s sister ship Nordbeach dragged anchors and drifted down on the anchored MSC Lauren, knocking containers overboard and causing structural damage to both ships.