Investigations into why a passenger ferry carrying almost 500 people crashed into the quayside at Harwich will continue today.
All 489 passengers on the DFDS Sirena Seaways were left stranded on board for several hours after the ship ran into a hydraulic boarding ramp at Parkeston Quay at around midday on Saturday.
The impact left a hole beneath the waterline on the 23,000-tonne vessel, which had just arrived from Esbjerg in Denmark, and resulted in the ship taking on water and initially listing by five to 10 degrees.
Passengers reported hearing a “bang” and some “metallic noises”, and feeling the ship “judder” as it hit the quayside.
Crew members on board the ferry have been praised for quickly following safety procedures to plug the gap and seal the compartment in the hull with watertight doors. The actions led to the ferry righting itself in the water.
The Walton Coastguard Rescue Team, the Harwich RNLI lifeboat, the harbour launch boat, and the search and rescue helicopter from Wattisham Airfield were sent to the scene, along with a number of other nearby vessels and tugs that went to assist.
At around 2.45pm the ferry was brought alongside Harwich International Port and all 489 passengers on board disembarked. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said no-one was injured and there was no reported pollution.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service station officer Terry Jewell said: “This is one of the regular ferries that comes into Harwich and as it docked it hit the side of the quay making a hole under the waterline.
“The ship’s crew worked swiftly to put their safety plans into practice immediately the accident happened.”
Initial reports that the blustery conditions –with winds approaching 40mph in Essex on Saturday – had caused the accident were being downplayed yesterday.
A spokesman for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said a team was on site at Harwich and inspectors were carrying out preliminary enquiries into the cause of the incident. PR manager for DFDS Emma Batchelor added: “We do not yet know the cause of the incident. It will be investigated by us and the Danish maritime authorities because the ship operates under the Danish flag.”
Ms Batchelor said the damage sustained by DFDS Sirena Seaways meant that the ferry would be out of action until at least next Saturday while it was repaired at a dry dock in Bremerhaven in Germany.
This means services from Harwich to Esbjerg are suspended this week. DFDS is advising passengers on the alternatives – such as travelling on a different route or transferring to another operator – and is also offering reimbursement for cancellations.
Ms Batchelor said: “There is some damage to the hull in the front of the ship and on the bulb, and unfortunately it could not, as we had hoped, be repaired in the port.
“Therefore the ship has to go to a shipyard for repairs. Available dry dock capacity was found in Bremerhaven in Germany.
“The ship will be repaired so it can sail to the dry dock, and once the repairs have been completed, they will then have to be approved for safe sailing before the ship can go back into service.”
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