MV Tricolor

2002

Strait of Dover, car carrier, collision cascade Location: Strait of Dover, English Channel · Coordinates: 51.13°N 1.95°E · Casualties: 0 · Survivors: 24 · Depth: 30 m (part broke surface) · Cause: collision — Rammed and sunk by the Bahamian freighter Kariba in fog in the Strait of Dover at 02:25 on 14 December 2002. Capsized in eight minutes with 2,862 BMW, Saab, and Volvo cars aboard. Struck by two more ships in the same month before her wreck was properly buoyed. · Fate: removed 2003-04 · wreck dispersed · Type: pure car carrier · Tonnage: 49,792 tons · Crew: 24 · Flag: Norway (Wallenius Wilhelmsen) · Launched: 1987 Norwegian pure car carrier, Zeebrugge to Southampton with 2,862 luxury European cars in her holds. Rammed in fog in the Strait of Dover by the Bahamian freighter Kariba at 02:25 on 14 December 2002. Capsized in eight minutes. No crew died. She was struck by two more passing ships in the following ten days before her wreck was properly buoyed, producing new rules on wreck marking in the Dover Strait. The Vessel The MV Tricolor was a Norwegian-flagged car carrier ship, built at the Norwegian Aker Brattvaag yard at Brattvaag, Norway between 1987 and 1987 and commissioned on 22 September 1987. She was 190 metres long, 49,792 gross tons, and powered by a diesel engine producing approximately 19,000 horsepower. Her specific design was a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC): a specialised cargo vessel designed exclusively for the transport of new automobiles, trucks, and construction equipment between manufacturing ports and distribution ports worldwide. She was owned and operated by the Norwegian Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics shipping company, one of the world's largest specialist car carrier operators. The specific operational role was the standard Wallenius Wilhelmsen transatlantic car-carrier service: European manufacturing ports (Germany, Belgium, France) to North American distribution ports (eastern United States and Canadian East Coast). The specific route carried approximately 1.2 million new vehicles annually across the North Atlantic. By December 2002, the Tricolor had been operating for 15 years on the transatlantic car-carrier service. Her specific operational history had been largely unremarkable: routine commercial service, with minor incidents related to weather delays and operational modifications but no significant safety events. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Juris Vronskis, 54, a Latvian merchant marine officer. Her complement on 14 December 2002 was approxima The Disaster At approximately 02:30 on 14 December 2002, Kariba and Tricolor collided at approximately 35 kilometres west of Dunkirk. The specific collision was substantially the fault of Kariba, which had failed to maintain proper watch and had not identified Tricolor's position through her radar. The specific collision was substantial. Kariba's bow struck Tricolor's port side amidships at approximately 6-8 knots relative impact speed; the specific impact penetrated Tricolor's hull at approximately the waterline, opening a breach approximately 12 metres long. The progressive flooding began immediately; Tricolor's cargo holds were substantial, and the ship's stability was immediately compromised. The specific evacuation of Tricolor was successful. All 24 crew were successfully evacuated by the Belgian-French rescue vessel Vigie and by helicopters from the French Navy. No casualties occurred in the specific Tricolor case. MV Tricolor capsized and sank at approximately 04:00 on 14 December 2002 in approximately 30 metres of water approximately 35 kilometres west of Dunkirk, France. The ship sank on her port side; approximately half of her hull and superstructure remained visible above the water surface. The specific immediate operational problem was the ship's position: she was in the centre of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world (the English Channel has approximately 500 ships transiting daily). The specific partially-submerged wreck represented a major navigational hazard; spec