A collision involving the three-year-old multipurpose general cargo/container vessel Ems, owned by Werse Schiffahrts of Münster, Germany, recently brought a new customer to Gibdock, the Gibraltar-based ship repair yard. The 308 ft long, 5500dwt Ems (formerly the Buluklu and Rhone) - delivered in 2007 by the Torgem yard in Turkey - was alongside in the port of Montril, near Almeria, Spain, when the vessel was struck by the bulbous bow of the ferry Ace 2, formerly Euroferry Atlantica, which had broken free from its moorings. Ems was effectively sandwiched between the Ace 2 and the quay wall, and in the process suffered significant damage to both her port and starboard sides.
