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Moby Prince disaster
The Moby Prince disaster was a major maritime accident resulting in 140 deaths. It occurred in the late evening of Wednesday 10 April 1991, in the harbour of Livorno, Italy. It is the worst disaster in the Italian merchant navy since World War II. It is also considered one of the two worst environmental disasters in Italian history, along with the explosion and loss of the tanker Amoco Milford Haven on the following day in an unrelated accident near Voltri.
MV Moby Prince, a ferry owned by Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino (NAVARMA) Lines, collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo, sparking an extensive fire that ravaged the ship. The only survivor of the crew and passengers of the ferry was a young ship's boy, Alessio Bertrand from Naples. The other 140 on board were killed by the fire or toxic fumes.
On 28 May 1998 the ship's hull sank while impounded in a dock in Leghorn Harbour; it was later refloated and sent to be scrapped in Turkey.
MV Moby Prince was an Italian ferry owned by Navarma Lines (later Moby Lines). She was built in 1967 by the English shipyard Cammell Laird of Birkenhead as Koningin Juliana for ferry operator Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland of the Netherlands, and was used on the Harwich to Hook of Holland route until 1984.
At 22:03 on 10 April 1991 the Moby Prince left Livorno, heading to Olbia for a regular service, with 75 passengers, manned by a complement of 66 crew. The ship was commanded by Ugo Chessa. While taking the usual dedicated route out of the harbor, the ferry's bow struck the Agip Abruzzo, which was standing at anchor, and sliced through its tank number 7. The tank was filled with 2,700 tons of Iranian light crude oil. At 22:25, the ferry's radio operator broadcast a mayday from the portable VHF transmitter. He did not use the fixed radio set, since he was not at his post at the moment of the disaster, as was later confirmed by the location of his body.
Some of the oil spread on the surface of the sea and caught fire, but the remainder was sprayed onto the Moby Prince by the impact. A raging fire quickly engulfed the ferry. The exact quantity of oil sprayed on the ferry was estimated in the subsequent trial at 100 to 300 tons. In the collision, the tanker got stuck to the ferry. The tanker commander ordered full power to the engines and managed to separate the ships, but unwittingly worsened the oil spill.
The deck of the Moby Prince was on fire, but the people aboard had some time to reach safety. The fire reached the ship's interior only after the two massive covers between the deck and the upper car compartment gave way under the intense heat. Once that happened, the fire spread to the prow engine room, slowed only by the fireproof doors. According to later surveys, the fire took over half an hour to reach the De Luxe hall, the ship's safe meeting point.
Rescuers were alerted by repeated calls from the Agip Abruzzo, but the Mayday from the Moby Prince went unheard. The situation was unclear until 23:35 – over one hour after the collision – when the ferry's wreck was located. The crew of the Moby Prince had no time to cut power to the engines. The ship was left out of control and began circling away from the location of the collision, still engulfed in flames, as was the sea around her, making rescue even harder.
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Moby Prince disaster AI simulator
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Moby Prince disaster
The Moby Prince disaster was a major maritime accident resulting in 140 deaths. It occurred in the late evening of Wednesday 10 April 1991, in the harbour of Livorno, Italy. It is the worst disaster in the Italian merchant navy since World War II. It is also considered one of the two worst environmental disasters in Italian history, along with the explosion and loss of the tanker Amoco Milford Haven on the following day in an unrelated accident near Voltri.
MV Moby Prince, a ferry owned by Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino (NAVARMA) Lines, collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo, sparking an extensive fire that ravaged the ship. The only survivor of the crew and passengers of the ferry was a young ship's boy, Alessio Bertrand from Naples. The other 140 on board were killed by the fire or toxic fumes.
On 28 May 1998 the ship's hull sank while impounded in a dock in Leghorn Harbour; it was later refloated and sent to be scrapped in Turkey.
MV Moby Prince was an Italian ferry owned by Navarma Lines (later Moby Lines). She was built in 1967 by the English shipyard Cammell Laird of Birkenhead as Koningin Juliana for ferry operator Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland of the Netherlands, and was used on the Harwich to Hook of Holland route until 1984.
At 22:03 on 10 April 1991 the Moby Prince left Livorno, heading to Olbia for a regular service, with 75 passengers, manned by a complement of 66 crew. The ship was commanded by Ugo Chessa. While taking the usual dedicated route out of the harbor, the ferry's bow struck the Agip Abruzzo, which was standing at anchor, and sliced through its tank number 7. The tank was filled with 2,700 tons of Iranian light crude oil. At 22:25, the ferry's radio operator broadcast a mayday from the portable VHF transmitter. He did not use the fixed radio set, since he was not at his post at the moment of the disaster, as was later confirmed by the location of his body.
Some of the oil spread on the surface of the sea and caught fire, but the remainder was sprayed onto the Moby Prince by the impact. A raging fire quickly engulfed the ferry. The exact quantity of oil sprayed on the ferry was estimated in the subsequent trial at 100 to 300 tons. In the collision, the tanker got stuck to the ferry. The tanker commander ordered full power to the engines and managed to separate the ships, but unwittingly worsened the oil spill.
The deck of the Moby Prince was on fire, but the people aboard had some time to reach safety. The fire reached the ship's interior only after the two massive covers between the deck and the upper car compartment gave way under the intense heat. Once that happened, the fire spread to the prow engine room, slowed only by the fireproof doors. According to later surveys, the fire took over half an hour to reach the De Luxe hall, the ship's safe meeting point.
Rescuers were alerted by repeated calls from the Agip Abruzzo, but the Mayday from the Moby Prince went unheard. The situation was unclear until 23:35 – over one hour after the collision – when the ferry's wreck was located. The crew of the Moby Prince had no time to cut power to the engines. The ship was left out of control and began circling away from the location of the collision, still engulfed in flames, as was the sea around her, making rescue even harder.