Russian Ship Collides with Icelandic Coast Guard Vessels
The Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern collided with the Icelandic Coastguard patrol ships Þór and Týr, which were docked at the quayside. Both Icelandic vessels sustained damage.
“These things can happen when a big ship is approaching the quay, or leaving it. Nobody was injured,” the Coastguard’s Ásgrímur Ásgrímsson told Vísir, philosophically. “The police have been called and the maritime accident investigators and witness statements have been taken.
The incident took place on June 11 when the ship was on her way out of the port. The STS Kruzenshtern, which has been docked in Reykjavík Harbour for the past few days, was on its way out when it ran into trouble.
All the three ships were damaged. The collision resulted in two holes in the hull of one of the coastguard ships, a source told FlashNord news agency.
“Neither of the ships is sinking and there is no damage below the waterline. But there is damage which needs to be assessed. The plan is for Þór to go on a reconnaissance mission after the weekend and we will make the repairs necessary so that it will be seaworthy.”
According to the operations department for the Icelandic Coast Guard, they will seek an insurance payout from Kruzenshtern’s insurance company.
This is not the first time the Russian naval cadets’ ship has hit another vessel: last August it hit a 17-meter-long tug off Esjberg in Denmark, resulting in the smaller boat sinking.
Kruzenshtern was built in 1926 in Bremen, Germany and was given to the Russians at the end of the Second World War. It now sails out of the Russian port of Kaliningrad, which was once part of Prussia and was called Königsberg. It was home to the philosopher Immanuel Kant.