The ocean is a big place, which is why cargo ships can be so massive. When it comes to trying to get into a port, however, things can become a tight squeeze.
According to a report from TradeWinds, two bulk carrier ships actually collided, causing large amounts of damage to both.
Fortunately, neither sunk.
While ships colliding is quite rare, what makes this one particularly interesting is that it was caught on video.
The crash happened on July 16th, 2024 in Hay Point in Queensland, Australia.
The video shows the EL Eco, which is a capesize ship, slowly traveling across the screen until it hits the YM Serenity, another capesize ship.
Ironically, the video shows the words, “SAFETY FIRST” painted in huge letters on the EL Eco just before it crashes.
You can see that the ship rips through two of the liquid nitrogen gas takes that are mounted on the side of the vessel’s bridge. Fortunately, these tanks were empty or this event could have resulted in a devastating explosion.
These ships both have deadweight tonnages of over 180,000 tons, which is in addition to the weight of the ships themselves. The sheer size of the EL Eco undoubtedly contributed to the accident, since these types of ships take a long time to stop or even change direction. The other ship was stopped and anchored at the time.
The fact that there were no deaths or injuries reported is astounding.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.