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Cruise ship, tanker collide
26/09/2004 19:41 - (SA)
Madrid - A cruise ship carrying about 500 people collided on Sunday with an oil tanker in fog-shrouded waters off southern Spain, causing damage to both vessels but no injuries or environmental damage, officials said.
The cruise ship Van Gogh, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, had left from Gibraltar on Spain's southern coast and was headed for Tangiers, Morocco when it ran into the starboard side of the double-hulled Greek tanker ship Spetses.
The tanker was heading for a refinery in nearby Algeciras.
Port authorities had radioed both ships to warn them visibility was zero because of thick fog. "You could not see anything. Absolutely nothing," said Oscar Lobato, an official with the interior ministry office in the Andalusia region.
The tanker was carrying 139 000 tons of crude oil. Above the waterline the hull was dented, but not pierced and divers determined there was no leakage, Lobato said.
The cruise ship sustained damage to its bow but was able to return to Gibraltar under its own power.
- SAPA
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