The minesweeper vessel «Kallisto» M63 of the Hellenic Navy (HN) is going out of service after the catastrophic collision with the cargo container ship «Maersk Launceston».

The broken-in-half, 700-ton «Kallisto» was towed yesterday to the Salamis Naval Station by two tugboats, as the collision with the 65000-ton «Maersk Launceston» cut its stern and caused damages which put her out of service permanently. 

The captain of «Maersk Launceston» has been arrested for causing a shipwreck due to negligence following the order of the prosecutor and will be taken to the Piraeus prosecutor’s office today.

Also read: BREAKING | The “Kallisto”minesweeper vessel of the Hellenic Navy sinks after collision with cargo ship –Photo

From the initial clues of the preliminary investigation carried out by the Coast Guard, it appears that during the departure on the deck of the cargo ship there was a navigator, as provided. 

The first photo shows the cargo ship «Maersk Launceston» and on the top right, in the background the minesweeper «Kallisto». The warship left the port of Salamis and the cargo ship from Ikonio.

At that point, according to information, the Greek captain of «Kallisto» seems to have understood that a collision would be imminent and tried to avoid the cargo ship after receiving no response via radio from the Polish captain of «Maersk Launceston».

In the second photo taken a few seconds after the collision, one part of the navy ship can be seen on the left and the stern part on the right being on fire.

According to information cited by witnesses, the «Maersk Launceston» with a crew of 22 people was moving at a speed higher than allowed.

These data have been saved on the maps that record the course of merchant ships. The «Maersk Launceston», 266 meters long, was moving at a speed of 5.3 knots until it reached Psyttalia. Gradually she began to increase speed.

At 07:10 the cargo ship was moving with 6.8 knots, at 07:14 with 9.8 knots, at 07:19 with 12.2 knots, at 07:24 with 16.1 knots and at 07:29 the speed was recorded at 16 knots. A few minutes later, the cargo ship reaches a breathing distance from the Greek minesweeper with the collision being inevitable. 

«Kallisto», while initially tilted (her bow section developed a severe list) due to water inflow), she did not sink. An important role for that is the fact that the boat is made of a mixture of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (GRP) to minimize the magnetic footprint and for durability reasons.

During the towing of the bow section in the Salamina Naval Station, a total of four Hellenic Navy officers were on board, including the captain, while the two wounded non-commissioned officers were transferred to the Naval Hospital in Athens. The other members of the crew underwent preventive examinations at the Naval Hospital and were immediately discharged. 

With information from: CNN.gr, Kathimerini.gr

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