The Danish Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the Russian Navy corvette, Kazanets, collided with the refrigerated cargo vessel, Ice Rose, in dense fog, near the Øresund Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Baltic.
The Russian ship, a Parchim-class corvette, is reported to have been operating with this AIS turned off. The corvette is said to have suffered a hull breach above the waterline and to have proceeded under its own power toward the Baltiysk Naval Base, Kaliningrad Region, Russia.
The merchant ship, Ice Rose, is reported to have suffered significant damage and is anchored south of the Øresund Bridge awaiting a determination of seaworthiness. Ice Rose is a 14567 DWT ship carrying refrigerated containers. The ship is owned by Maestro Ship Management.
Thanks to Irwin Bryan for contributing to this post.
Wondering when it will become mandatory to not be able to turn off the AIS during peace time.
We haven’t got the full story yet, were they in a port controlled area?
Whilst AIS is not mentioned in colregs they do state that vessels should use “every means available”. Including sight and hearing – were fog horns sounded? Did the presumably over-manned Navy ship have lookouts posted outside of the enclosed bridge?
Rule 19 SUMMARY
Always be prepared to give way to ships you cannot see.
AIS: best installed with a fuse leading directly to an essential DC bus and with no “on-off” switch available for temptation.
If a war starts, the OOD can just shoot the transmitter dead, or hit it with a fire ax a few times. 🙂