Kallisto: How Tragedy Was Averted

Light on the circumstances in which the incredible accident with the minesweeper occurred this Tuesday morning “Callisto” and the Maersk Launceston freighter will provide an investigation that is already underway.

Panagiotis Pastouseas, Honorary Deputy Director of the General Staff, spoke with LIVE NEWS and Nikos Evangelatos about the violent collision of the warship “Kallisto” with the giant freighter.

Mr. Pastouseas indicated that the causes of the conflict will be determined by the preliminary investigation that is already underway and made some observations. According to the admiral ea “The merchant ship is arriving, approaching the minesweeper that appears to be ahead. The person who arrives has the responsibility to take care of it. He who has to watch, the ship that has a ship on its right must watch it. ”

As he said “commercials of this size have stacked containers, they have blind sections in their bows. “I should have a watch.”

The accident occurred at 7:30 am on Tuesday when the large container ship of the Maersk company with the Portuguese flag fell for an unknown reason on the “Kallisto”, cutting it in two. The Navy ship received a dangerous tilt, two crew members were injured and with the help of tugboats that immediately arrived at the scene of the nearby tragedy, the ship was brought safely to the Salamina Naval Base. The captain of the merchant ship was arrested.

How the conflict happened

The Portuguese-flagged merchant ship Maersk Launceston, which was carrying a container and had sailed from Psyttalia to Canakkale at 07:11, crashed on the Navy “Kallisto” which at that time had left the port of Salamis. As a result of the collision, the merchant ship collided with the stern “Kallisto” and cut off her stern.

Initially, there was a fear that the Navy ship would sink. But the efforts of the Coast Guard and Navy paid off.

The merchant cut the warship in half, cutting off its stern! This enormous damage is due in part to the construction materials of the warship. It is made of reinforced plastic and fiberglass, which makes it vulnerable to collisions.

According to merchant ship maps, the “Maersk Launceston” was sailing at a speed of 16 knots. Specifically, the “Maersk Launceston” was moving at a speed of 5.3 knots until reaching Psyttalia. Starting at 07:04, just 14 minutes after the start, where it was sailing at 5.3 knots, little by little it begins to increase speed.

At 07:10 it moves with 6.8 knots, at 07:14 it sails with 9.8 knots, at 07:19 it moves with 12.2 knots, at 07:24 with 16.1 knots and at 07:29 its speed is recorded at 16 nodes. A few minutes later, around 07:34, the huge container ship crashed into the rear of the minesweeper “Kallisto”.

The role of the Maersk Launceston boater

Among the things that the Authorities are looking for in reaching the conclusion about the causes of the maritime accident is the role of the navigator who is expected to be on the ships when they leave the port of Piraeus. However, the navigator reportedly disembarked from Maersk Launceston two nautical miles before the point of impact. The navigator usually comes on board as an advisor to the captain, because he knows the peculiarities of the place, the sinkholes, the piers and the winds in each port. In this case, you had disembarked from the ship 2 miles before it entered the traffic zone for ships arriving and departing from the port of Piraeus.

At the moment, it is not clear which of the two ships had priority and which was the one that entered the other’s path.

The image of the dissolved “Callisto” freezes the blood. The minesweeper is half to the left. The before and after photos are revealing. Previously, the Maersk Launceston truck cut it in two with the ease with which the knife cuts butter.

Dramatic moments to save “Kallisto”

Nothing predicted the unprecedented maritime accident that took place off Piraeus shortly after 7:30 a.m. in good condition. The Maersk Launceston, flying the Portuguese flag, left Piraeus at 7:11 am for the port of Canakkale in Turkey.

A few minutes later, around 7:30 am, the 266 meter long cantilever collided with the 60 meter “Kallisto” with which it was crossing.

The Navy had departed from the Naval Station, while in the commercial one, its navigator had landed a little earlier.

The Navy ship shakes at first contact as if struck with electricity, followed by a deafening noise of sheet metal. They fill it with running water while it is cut in two. Two members of the army were slightly injured in the violent confrontation.

During the maritime collision of the NTHI “Kallisto” with a merchant ship on October 27, 2020, two crew members were slightly injured and were transferred to the Naval Hospital in Athens.

The stern of “Kallisto” ended at the bottom of the sea

The wounded ship is in danger of sinking. Photographs before and after the collision reveal the magnitude of the damage done to the ship, which is made of composite materials and carbon fiber to have less of a trace on enemy radar.

The business chamber is updated immediately. The seconds were precious to save the ship. At the Piraeus Port Authority, an alarm sounded and a large operation was launched to reach the ship at the Salamina Naval Station before going to the bottom of the sea.

The incident caused water to enter the minesweeper, while a rescue operation was immediately organized for the crew. The Central Port Authority of Piraeus, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, prohibited the merchant ship from leaving.

The first tugs that arrive help “Kallisto” not to sink.

The ship had tilted dangerously. The stern sank. In the photos we see the crew members on the left side concentrating to see that half of the ship is missing as if they were cutting it with a knife.

Naval circles will say that this photo-documentary proves that the ship had priority in its crossing with the merchant.

The barge that we see with the floating crane kept the boat out of the water while the tugs pulled the “Kallisto” at the Salamina Naval Base.

The old British shipbuilding 1988 Berkeley, which has been used in the Navy since 2001, has doubts as to whether it can be returned to its original condition.

The Coast Guard is already conducting an investigation to determine responsibilities for the unprecedented accident. The first signs show that the speed of the commercial is 16 knots and then drops to 8 and 5 knots.

See the MEGA report

The spokesman for the Ministry of Navigation and Insular Policy of the Coast Guard Headquarters, Captain Nikolaos Kokkalas, referred to the maritime accident with his statements at noon.

The spokesperson stressed that at 7:35 am the Joint Search and Rescue Coordination Center of the Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard was informed about a collision between a Navy ship and specifically the minesweeper “Kallisto” and the transport ship (container “” MAERSK LAUNCESTON “under the Portuguese flag, in the maritime zone 3.7 nautical miles south of Psytallia Piraeus, outside the traffic separation zone”.

He added that the violent collision caused water to enter the minesweeper, while a rescue operation was immediately organized by members of the minesweeper’s crew from three Coast Guard patrol boats, two anti-pollutants, an underwater unit, a ship and a helicopter.

Crew members gathered

According to Mr. Kokkalas, the crew members were picked up by a Coast Guard patrol boat and a Navy ship, while the two injured crew members of the minesweeper were transported to the port of Piraeus by boat, taken by ambulance to an ambulance and transported by ambulance. .

The captain and other members of his crew remained aboard the minesweeper.

He also added that the collision caused controlled marine pollution, while the local pollution response plans of the competent Port Authorities were activated.

“Additional materials were collected from the maritime area of ​​the incident, while decontamination work by the Hellenic Coast Guard – Coast Guard vessels continues at an intense pace and with positive results,” he said.

Mr. Kokkalas also stated that the Central Port Authority of Piraeus, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, prohibited the commercial container ship from leaving, while the “Kallisto”, which was searching for mines, was towed to the Salamina Naval Base. .

SYRIZA: Serious incident

“Today’s fierce collision of the merchant ship” MAERSK LAUNCESTON “with the Navy minesweeper” Kallisto “is a serious incident,” commented the head of the Department of Maritime and Insular Policy SYRIZA.

In a statement, he wished the injured a speedy recovery and that all passengers were in good health.

He described as important to avoid a worse outcome the contribution of the Coast Guard agents who rushed to the crash site and contributed to the recovery of the wreck.

“From the first moment, we considered the safe transport of the ship and the strengthening of the anti-pollution process with more force as a first necessity. The Piraeus and Psytallia area can no longer bear the burden of marine pollution. We are waiting for information on the progress of these actions, so that the environment is safe and the local community feels safe. “We continue to await the immediate clarification of the causes of the conflict, so that nothing remains unanswered that affects safe navigation in the largest port in the country,” he concludes in his announcement.

Memories of Merlin’s tragedy

We do not mourn the victims for a miracle, said government spokesman Stelios Petsas, while as he said it will be a miracle even if the ship is eventually saved.

The accident evoked images of the 1972 tragedy when the tanker “World Hero” crashed into the warship “Merlin”, killing 44 crew members.

It was November 15, 1972, when at a distance of 3 miles south of the port of Piraeus, the ferry “Merlin” (piloted by Lieutenant G. Begietis) sank in minutes, when it collided with the giant oil tanker World Hero , dragging its members to death. of his crew.

This ferry of the Hellenic Navy (former USS LSM 557) was one of six ships of the same type (“Tournas”, “Krystallidis”, “Grigoropoulos”, “Roussen” and “Daniolos” the other five) that had been granted in 1958 of the U.S. in the context of providing military assistance to our country.