MV Baltic Ace

2012

North Sea, car carrier, fifteen minutes Location: North Sea, 65 nmi W of Rotterdam · Coordinates: 51.92°N 3.18°E · Casualties: 11 · Survivors: 13 · Depth: 35 m · Cause: collision — Struck amidships by the Cypriot container ship Corvus J in the North Sea at 19:15 on 5 December 2012. The two ships had been visible to each other on radar for twenty minutes. She capsized and sank in fifteen minutes. · Fate: partially removed · Type: pure car/truck carrier · Tonnage: 21,804 tons · Crew: 24 · Flag: Bahamas · Launched: 2007 Bahamas-flagged pure car and truck carrier, Zeebrugge to Kotka with 1,417 Mitsubishi vehicles aboard. Struck amidships by the Cypriot container ship Corvus J in the North Sea at 19:15 on 5 December 2012 despite having each other on radar for twenty minutes. Capsized and sank in fifteen minutes. 11 dead, 13 survived before the North Sea could kill them in 4-degree Celsius water. The Vessel The MV Baltic Ace was a Bahamas-flagged pure car carrier operated by the Dutch Hoegh Autoliners shipping company, built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries yard at Ulsan, South Korea in 2007. She was 148 metres long, 23,498 gross tons, and powered by a MAN-B&W diesel engine producing approximately 12,000 horsepower. Her specific design was a pure car carrier: a specialised cargo vessel for new automobile transport between manufacturing and distribution ports. Her operational role was European car distribution: transport of new vehicles from European manufacturing ports to European distribution ports. Her specific pattern in 2012 was regular service between Zeebrugge, Belgium and various Baltic Sea destinations including Kotka, Finland. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Satish Singh, 42, an Indian merchant marine officer. Her complement on 5 December 2012 was 24 crew, predominantly Filipino and Polish merchant marine personnel. The Disaster At approximately 19:15 on 5 December 2012, the Baltic Ace and Corvus J collided at approximately 8-10 knots relative impact speed. The specific collision was the fault of Corvus J, which had failed to maintain proper watch and had not effectively coordinated the crossing-traffic situation. The specific collision damage to Baltic Ace was catastrophic. Corvus J's bow struck Baltic Ace's starboard side amidships, penetrating the car carrier's hull approximately 8 metres. The specific impact location was at the waterline; substantial flooding began immediately; the ship's watertight compartment systems were compromised. MV Baltic Ace capsized and sank at approximately 19:30 on 5 December 2012 in approximately 35 metres of water in the North Sea. The sinking took approximately 15 minutes from the initial collision - extraordinarily rapid for a ship of her size. The specific rapidity of the sinking substantially reduced the evacuation window. The specific evacuation was substantially complicated by the weather conditions, the rapid sinking, and the specific below-deck configuration of the crew accommodations. Multiple crew members were trapped in below-deck spaces by the rapid capsize; others were unable to deploy lifeboats effectively in the extreme weather conditions. The specific rescue response was rapid: Dutch Coast Guard vessels and helicopters arrived within approximately 30 minutes of the collision; multiple commercial vessels in the area participated in rescue operations.