The Greek Navy minesweeper HS Kallisto was cut in half following a collision with the containership Maersk Launceston. The stern of the minesweeper apparently sank following the collision while the bow was taken under tow by salvors. The minesweeper’s crew was evacuated. Two of the crew were reported to be injured.
The Maersk Launceston was leaving Piraeus, Greece, bound for Canakkale, Turkey when the collision took place at 0740 UTC, today. The container ship was ordered to return to Piraeus pending an investigation. The ship’s captain has been arrested. The container ship is reported to have sustained slight damage to her bow.
The HS Kallisto was originally the HMS Berkeley, a Royal Navy Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel built in 1987. She was sold to Greece in 2001. The minesweeper was 60 meters long with a 9.8-meter beam.
Maersk Launceston is a 4,045 TEU Portuguese registered container ship. She is 266 meters long and 38 meters wide.
Thanks to David Rye for contributing to this post.
Very fortunate that there were no fatalities. I am wondering why the Maersk skipper was arrested but there is very little information and it is hard to see which side of the minesweeper was hit.
Better photo on Twitter, click the photo.
https://mobile.twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1321018228580274178
An incredible piece of design to still be floating. Good job by thr Royal Navy’s naval architects.
@Peter Wright
Not quite as good as nature, lizards can lose their tails but still have propulsion 🙂
A boat I’m very close to is named Kallisto.
Shock to see the name!
Ditto on Jean-Pierre re human toll.
Arresting the captain: only makes accident investigation harder.
It looks like the container ship was the give way vessel* and apparently the minesweeper is grp which explains why there was no torn and buckled metal in the picture.
*unless it was constrained by draft or some other good reason. I haven’t seen an AIS track for the warship online, surprise surprise.