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A bank guarantee letter of 40 million euros was presented by the “Maersk Launceston” shipowning company, which on October 27 cut in the middle of the Navy warship “Kallisto”, so that the gigantic container ship sailed from Piraeus and continued your trip.
Following the collision of the two ships and the total destruction of the warship “Kallisto”, the Greek state requested and obtained the conservative seizure of the container ship up to the amount of 40 million euros. The shipowning company of “Maersk Launceston”, to achieve the release of the container ship, paid a deposit of 40 million euros and thus received a navigation license. The bank guarantee letter presented in favor of the Greek State constitutes a solid guarantee of quality, according to sources from the Merchant Marine Ministry.
However, the case of the investigation of the causes of the maritime accident and the attribution of responsibility still has a long way to go until it is clarified. What exactly happened Early in the morning, around 07:30, on Tuesday, October 27, the 266-meter-long container ship passed over the lightweight minesweeper, made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic.
Shortly before colliding with the Navy minesweeper, the container ship “Maersk Launceston” sailed at a speed of 16 knots. This element has been printed on the electronic maps that record the course of merchant ships and are available to everyone. For a container ship, time is of the essence. Freight has strict clauses in case of delay in the delivery of the merchandise and the crew does not lose a minute, since even a small delay entails huge losses for the shipowner.
How the accident happened
On October 27, the “Maersk Launceston” advanced 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, it began to gradually increase its speed. At 07:10 it was moving with 6.8 knots, at 07:14 it was sailing with 9.8 knots, at 07:19 it was moving with 12.2 knots, at 07:24 with 16.1 knots and at 07:29 its speed was recorded at 16 nodes. A few minutes later, around 07:34, the huge container ship collided with the rear of the minesweeper “Kallisto” which had set sail from the port of Salamis.
Both ships were heading south sailing almost in parallel. Both the “Kallisto” and the “Maersk Launceston” were advancing towards the so-called separation, the area where merchant and warships passing through the area move in different directions.
At present it is not easy to attempt the exact reconstruction of the last years before the collision of the Greek warship with the container ship.
At sea, the boat in front usually takes priority. From the photos that capture the violent collision of the two ships and the huge losses in “Kallisto” whose boardwalk has been completely destroyed, it appears that the minesweeper was in front of the container ship. Also, the “Maersk Launceston” had the little minesweeper on her right, so she had to give priority to the small warship. But what happened and what caused the conflict?
The Coast Guard is conducting a preliminary investigation that has yet to be completed. How many of the Maersk Launceston crew were on the bridge with the captain at the time of the collision? Why didn’t they notice the presence of the minesweeper? What manipulations did the governor of “Kallisto” do? What were the communications of the crews of the two ships via wireless? What was said between the container ship and the minesweeper? Were the crews of the warship avoiding collisions? All of these questions are expected to be answered during the investigation. The recordings printed on the container ship’s black box will also be of great value.
The investigation of the accident progresses, converging information reports. Following the Greek Navy report, Greek public advisers and Maersk’s lawyers are expected to begin working together to agree with the insurance company on compensation terms for the destruction of a nearly new warship. Unexpectedly, it will be a long process where each side will have to carefully base their arguments to establish who was responsible for the conflict and the total destruction of the Kallistos minesweeper, fortunately without human victims.
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