1. Maipu passenger liner 11,515 GRT; 158m long; 238 passengers/crew; Argentine registry; built 1951; CASUALTY: Nov 4, 1951 off Weser lightship near Hamburg (Germany)

Struck by US troopship General M. L. Hershey. All personnel evacuated. Ship sank after three hours. No casualties.

2. Champollion passenger liner, 12,546 GRT; 168m long; 348 passengers/crew; French registry; built 1925; CASUALTY: Dec 22, 1952 off Beirut (Lebanon)

Ship grounded on reef, ship slowly cracked in two due to pounding surf. 15 people died swimming for shore.

3. Altair passenger liner; 6,410 GRT; 134m long; 92 passengers; Dutch registry; built 1950; CASUALTY: April 15, 1956 off Vitoria (Brazil)

Ship wrecked (no other details given). No fatalities.

4. Andrea Doria passenger liner; 29,100 GRT; 212m long; 1706 passengers/crew;

Ship was struck by Swedish liner Stockholm on starboard side. One compartment was opened to the sea, but progressive flooding through a non-watertight opening caused the ship to heel over and finally sink, some 12 hours after collision. 43 people died in the initial collision, two died of complications from the evacuation. 1,200 claims for damage/death/injury claims totaling $5.8M plus cost of liner $30M (all in 1956 dollars).

5. Neptunia passenger liner; 10,519 GRT; 159m long; 31 passengers; Greek registry; built 1920; CASUALTY: Nov. 2, 1957 in Cobh harbor (Ireland)

Ship grounded on rock and beached. No fatalities.

6. Venezuela passenger liner; 18,769 GRT; 195m long; 510 passengers; Italian registry; built 1924; CASUALTY: March 14, 1962 ten miles off Cannes (France)

Ship driven against rocks by high winds. Hole torn in hull, ship beached, passengers taken off. No casualties.

7. Monte Udala passenger liner; 10,170 GRT; 148m long; 392 passengers; Spanish registry; built 1948; CASUALTY: Sept. 8, 1971 seventy miles off Ilheus (Brazil)

Ship sprang a leak in engine room, abandoned and later sank. No fatalities.

8. Caribia cruise liner; 24,496 GRT; 192m long; 880 passengers; Italian registry; built 1928; CASUALTY: Sept. 23, 1972 in Cannes harbor (France)

Ship grounded on rocks, flooded engine room, passengers evacuated. No casualties.

Ship ran aground, badly damaged. All personnel taken off by motor vessel. No casualties, but the ship was a total loss. Although less than 5000 GRT, included because it represents an incident in a highly-populated cruise route.

10. Columbus C cruise liner; 16,300 GRT; 182m long; 620 passengers; Panamanian registry; built 1953; CASUALTY: July 29, 1984 in Cadiz harbor (Spain)

Ship was blown against a breakwater while docking. An underwater spur punched a hole in the engine room, which flooded. Tugs took the ship to a jetty, where it debarked the passengers. The ship then listed and sank, a $7.8M loss. No casualties.

Sources: Hook, N., Maritime Casualties, 1963-1996, Lloyd’s Press, 1997

Watson, M., Disasters at Sea, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1996

11. Mikhail Lermontov passenger liner; 20,300 GRT; 176m long; 738 passengers crew; Soviet registry; built 1972; CASUALTY: Feb. 16, 1986 in Cook Strait off New Zealand

Ship scraped over a rock due to fatigue-induced pilot error. Water entered faster than pumps could remove it, flooding the refrigeration compartment and other spaces. Progressive flooding into the auxiliary engine room and main switchboard room caused power outage. Ship listed 12°, drifted into harbor. Passengers and crew evacuated in three hours, ship heeled to 85°, sank two hours later. One fatality, a crewmember trapped in the engine room who drowned.

12. Admiral Nakhimov passenger liner; 17,000 GRT; 174m long; 1234 passengers/ crew; Soviet registry; built 1925; CASUALTY: Aug. 31, 1986 in Black Sea off Novorossik (former USSR)

Ship was struck by Soviet bulk carrier Petr Vasev between the engine room and boiler room, causing damage 80m long, including a 90m² hole. Ship capsized and sank within eight minutes. 423 people died.

13. North Star cruise liner; 3,100 GRT; 89m long; 203 passengers/crew; Bahamanian registry; built 1966; CASUALTY: Aug. 8, 1986 near Prince of Wales, Alaska (USA)

Ship grounded and began to flood. Passengers and crew evacuated by the US Coast Guard. No casualties. Ship was repaired and towed into port, a total constructive loss of $6.4M. Although less than 5000 GRT, included because it represents a casualty in a highly-populated cruise route.

14. Jupiter cruise liner/school ship; 7,800 GRT; 126m long; 585 passengers/crew; Greek registry; built 1961; CASUALTY: October 21, 1988 near Piraeus (Greece)

Ship was struck by car carrier Adige in engine room, heeled quickly and lost power. Lifeboats were unusable due to list. Ship sank in 40 minutes. Most passengers and crew transferred to small craft as water level came up to upper decks, but 25 children floated off when ship sank and were immediately picked up. 4 fatalities - one crewmember had a heart attack, another struck his head on a rescue tugboat, and two were missing.

15. Maksim Gorkiy passenger liner; 24,220 GRT; 170m long; 952 passengers/crew; Soviet registry; built 1969; CASUALTY: June 20, 1989 about 150 miles off Spitzbergen

Ship struck an ice floe 12 miles long, 2-3 m thick. in calm daylight conditions. Ship was going 17 knots and failed to see floe. Two holes were made in bow (which was not ice-strengthened), one 2.5m x 0.8m, the other 6m x 0.01m. Ship trimmed as water entered bow. Most passengers evacuated by lifeboat, later picked up by Norwegian Coast Guard. New pumps brought aboard, ship was pumped out and returned to port. No fatalities.

16. Oceanos Passenger liner; 7,500 GRT; 150m long; 581 passengers/crew; Greek registry; built 1951; CASUALTY: August 4, 1991, about 5 miles off South Africa.

During a rough storm (45 knot winds), water entered engine room through a damaged seawater pipe. Watertight doors were closed, but progressive flooding through other pipes eventually cause ship to lose power and heel to 20°. Ship was rolling heavily as it drifted towards shore. Passenger recovery was a debacle, but there were no fatalities. Ship capsized about 12 hours after first flooding was reported.

17. Royal Pacific cruise liner; 13,200 GRT; 143m long; 514 passengers/crew; Greek registry; built 1965; CASUALTY: August 23, 1992 in the Malacca Straits, about 12 miles from Singapore

Ship was struck by the 800-ton fish factory vessel Terfu 51, tearing a huge hole in the hull and flooding the engine room. Ship heeled and water entered the cabins above. Passengers and crew evacuated by lifeboat. Ship sank in 10-15 minutes. 9 fatalities - 3 drowned, 6 missing (probably trapped in hull).

18. Ocean Princess Cruise liner; 8,500 GRT; 150m long; 530 passengers/crew; Panamanian registry; built 1967; CASUALTY: March 1, 1993 in Amazon River one mile downstream from Belem (Brazil).

Ship struck a wreck, causing a rupture 9m x 0.12m in hull, flooding engine room and 2 decks of passenger cabins. Ship beached and passengers went ashore. No casualties.

Sources: Hook, N., Maritime Casualties, 1963-1996, Lloyd’s Press, 1997

Watson, M., Disasters at Sea, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1996

19. Star Princess Cruise liner, 63,500 GRT; 245m long; 2150 passengers/crew; Liberiain registry; built 1989; CASUALTY: June 23, 1995 about 14 miles from Juneau, Alaska (USA)

Ship grounded on a rock, causing flooding at stern. Passengers taken off by motorboat. Hull was repaired and ship sailed into port. No casualties.

20. Albatros Cruise liner; 24,800 GRT; 173m long; 824 passengers/crew; Bahamian registry; built 1957; CASUALTY: May 16, 1997 near St. Mary’s, Scilly Isles (U.K.)

Ship scraped over rocks, puncturing hull and flooding machinery spaces. Damage over 40m long. Ship returned to port, anchored and passengers taken off by launch. No casualties.

21. Wahine ro-ro ferry; 8,948 GRT; 149m long; 735 passengers/crew; New Zealand registry; built 1966; CASUALTY: April 10, 1968 in Wellington harbor, New Zealand

Ship lost steering, grounded on reef. Double bottom breached fore and aft. Motor room flooded, but other machinery spaces dry due to watertight doors. After 1.5 hours, upflooding through ventilators flooded vehicle decks. Draft increased from 5.2m to 6.7m. Scuppers could not be opened because they were now underwater. Ship heeled 90° after several hours. Many jumped into the sea, some lifeboats overturned. 51 fatalities from exposure, many injured.

22. Saitobaru ro-ro ferry; 6,600 GRT; 140m long; 238 passengers/crew; Japanese registry; built 1972; CASUALTY: September 6, 1978 in Japanese inland sea

Ship struck amidships by tanker Chang Won, flooding engine room and generator room. Ship heeled, but ship was evacuated by lifeboat. No casualties.

23. Hua Lien ro-ro ferry; 9,700 GRT; 118m long; 104 passengers; Taiwanese registry; built 1971; CASUALTY: April 19, 1983 in Hualien harbor, Taiwan

Ship grounded, flooding engine room. Ship beached by tugs, passengers evacuated. No casualties.

24. Dronning Margrethe II ro-ro ferry; 10,850 GRT; 132m long; 44 passengers/crew; Danish registry; built 1973; CASUALTY: March 14, 1991 off Rodbyhaven, Denmark.

Ship struck by British ro-ro cargo ship Bore Britannica starboard side forward of amidships. Collision tore a large hole below the waterline at a transverse bulkhead, flooding a hold on one side of the bulkhead, puncturing a diesel tank on the other, which caused a minor leak to develop in the compressor room inboard, which filled with water. Ship’s steering motors stopped, preventing maneuvering. After one hour vapor from the leaking fuel oil was ignited by a short-circuit caused by floodwater. Fire put out with help of other ships. Passengers and crew evacuated 2 hours after collision. Ship heeled and trimmed uncontrollably, grounded and later refloated. 1 fatality in initial collision.

25. Sally Albatross Passenger ferry; 25,000 grt; 158m long; 1,259 passengers/crew; Finnish registry; built 1992; CASUALTY: March 4, 1994 about 40 miles off Helsinki (Finland)

Ship grounded on rock at 19 knots, causing a 6m x 1m hole that pierced the double bottom and entered engine room. Engine room flooded, ship listed 25° in two hours. Passengers & crew evacuated through stern. Ship nearly sank, grounded on rocks and was later refloated. No casualties.

Watson, M., Disasters at Sea, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1996

26. Tallink ro-ro ferry, 10,340 GRT, 115m long, 1,101 passengers/crew; Estonian registry; built 1972; CASUALTY: April 22, 1995 off Helsinki, Finland.

Ship grounded on a rock, puncturing side shell, flooding auxiliary engine room, causing blackout and engine failure. Ship heeled 10° and ran aground after 1 km. Passengers and most crew evacuated after 1 hour. No fatalities. One slight injury.

This compendium was assembled by Larrie Ferreiro for the Marine Forensics Panel (SD-7):

Contact: LFerreiro@comdt.uscg.mil

http://www.sname.org/committees/tech_ops/O44/passcasualties.html