Last night a 40,500 ton container ship crashed into and demolished a shipping control tower in the port of Genoa in northern Italy. The incident left 9 dead and 4 injured. The initial death toll was 3.
The impact of the ship smashed the 55 meter (180 feet) high control tower to smithereens.
30 or so rescuers are sifting though the rubble of the control tower in an attempt to find those missing. At least two of those missing are believed to be under the rubble.
Three other bodies have been found in the wreckage of an elevator. One survivor has been found.
The cause of the ship crash is not net known, though there are reports that the Jolly Nero container ship’s engines may have failed. Another theory is that tug lines gave way. There’s also talk of the ship having to reverse to avoid a sand bar. It’s not clear why the sand bar was there, nor whether it shoulf have been. The sea was calm at the time of the incident.
A day of mourning has been declared in Genoa. The incident is to be discussed by Italy’s government.
The pilot’s control tower was finished in 1997 and had become one of the port of Genoa’s principal landmarks.
Genoa is the busiest Italian cargo port in terms of tonnage.
Francis Borg says
How is it that the tower was physically within reach of any ship? One would think there ought to be a quay in front of the tower prohibiting physical contact much the same as we put a minimum reservation of 5m in front of a motorway bridge abuttment or a great mass concrete barrier around bridge pillars for similar reasons. A similar but proportionate protection in the form of a quay would keep floating vessells away from possible contact.
Alex Roe says
You are the second person to have made this comment. Someone else did so via Twitter and I was thinking exactly the same.
I agree, there should have been some form of protection to keep ships from bumping into the tower. It looks as if nobody considered the possibility when they built the tower, but I suspect Italy’s authorities may bring up the point and the builder, planner, architect, may find his/herself in hot, salty, water and facing charges of negligence, maybe. We’ll see.