Karachi ship collision: Initial report holds captain responsible

KARACHI: An initial investigation report on Hapeg-Lloyd’s ship 8,000-TEU Tolten collision held captain of the ship responsible for the incident, sources informed Geo News on Monday.

Hapeg-Lloyd’s ship 8,000-TEU Tolten, which was carrying transit-containers, collided with another vessel 6,350-TEU Hamburg Bay near the South Asia Port Terminal Limited (SAPT) berth on March 19. At least 21 containers fell into the sea because of the collision.

The sunken containers were carrying imported cars and freight worth millions of rupees.

The ship's recording revealed that the captain did not issue any directives to prevent the collision.

"The captain's delayed response was the reason behind the incident," the report said.

The report further said that the accident could have been avoided if the Karachi Port had more powerful tugs.

"The Karachi Port should have three tugs, not two," it said.

It also said that the ship's reverse gear did not work at the time of the collision, adding that the ship should have been stopped within two minutes but it kept running till two minutes forty seconds.

It said that the accident happened because of the captain's inability to halt the speed of the ship.