Grande America

Last updated

Grande America
Car carrier GRANDE AMERICA en mer.jpg
Grande America, Casablanca, c. 2016
History
NameGrande America
Owner Grimaldi Group
OperatorGrimaldi Lines
Builder Fincantieri
Identification
FateSank Bay of Biscay, March 2019
General characteristics
Type Ro-Ro/Container Carrier
Tonnage27,965 t (27,523 long tons; 30,826 short tons)
Displacement56,642 t (55,747 long tons; 62,437 short tons)
Length214 m (702 ft)
Beam31 m (102 ft)
Installed power1 diesel engine
Propulsionsingle shaft, 1 screw
Speed14.5 kn (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph)

Grande America was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship built by Fincantieri in 1997, owned and operated by Grimaldi Lines, a subsidiary of Grimaldi Group. It sank in the Bay of Biscay in March 2019.

Contents

Sinking

Grande America in 2016 near Casablanca. Car carrier GRANDE AMERICA naviguant en mer de Casablanca.jpg
Grande America in 2016 near Casablanca.

On 10 March 2019, Grande America caught fire while traveling the Atlantic Ocean between France and Spain on its route from Hamburg (Germany) to Casablanca (Morocco), and sank 4,600 m (15,100 ft) into the Bay of Biscay on 12 March. [1] [2] The 27 people on board were rescued by the Royal Navy ship HMS Argyll after they abandoned ship on 11 March. [3] After their lifeboat's engine broke down entering the water, a Royal Navy sea boat towed it to safety in a 6 m (20 ft) swell. Leading Seaman David Groves, the sea boat coxswain, was later awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his bravery in the rescue. [4]

Oil spill

Grande America oil spill
Grande America
Location Bay of Biscay, France
Coordinates 46°04′08″N5°47′04″W / 46.068889°N 5.784444°W / 46.068889; -5.784444
Date12 March 2019;5 years ago (2019-03-12)
Cause
Cause Foundering of the Grande America cargo ship
Operator Grimaldi Lines
Spill characteristics
Volumec. 2,200 tonnes (4,900,000 lb) marine fuel (metric tonnes)
Areac. 10 km (6.2 mi) × 1 km (0.62 mi)

An oil spill of about 10 km (6.2 mi) in length and 1 km (0.62 mi) in width began moving towards the French coast line, threatening the areas around La Rochelle, Biarritz and Vendée. [5] The ship was carrying 365 containers, of which 45 contained material deemed to be hazardous, including 10 tonnes of hydrochloric acid and 70 tonnes of sulfuric acid. [6]

Cargo

The ship contained dozens of vehicles that were to be delivered to Brazilian importers, including 37 Porsche vehicles. Four of these were Porsche's last units of the 911 GT2 RS, which went out of production in February 2019. The sinking led to Porsche reactivating the production line for the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, so that these four last units could be delivered to their owners in Brazil. [7] The ship was also transporting dozens of Audi cars, including RS4 and RS5 models. [8]

Wreck

The wreck was located by Island Pride (a vessel leased to Ocean Infinity). [9] It arrived 30 March and started inspecting the wreck site using remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). [10] The ROVs were used to seal light leaks of oil discovered during the inspection. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 911 (993)</span> Fourth generation of the Porsche 911 sports car produced from 1994–1998

The Porsche 993 is the fourth generation of the Porsche 911 model sports car manufactured and sold between January 1994 and early 1998, replacing the 964. Its discontinuation marked the end of air-cooled 911 models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 911 (997)</span> Sixth generation of the Porsche 911

The Porsche 997 is the sixth generation of the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche between 2004 and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coupés began in early 2004, all-wheel drive Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S began to be delivered to customers in November 2005, the Turbo and GT3 derivatives went on sale in late 2006 and the GT2 in 2007. In addition to the coupé and cabriolet versions, Targa versions of the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S were also available, which carry on with the "glass canopy" roof design used since its first application on the 993 until the 991, which reverted to the classic targa top layout used on the early 911 Targas.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The International Maritime Organization convention requires signatory flag states to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with at least these standards.

MS <i>al-Salam Boccaccio 98</i> Egyptian Ro/Ro passenger ferry

The MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was an Egyptian Ro/Ro passenger ferry, operated by El Salam Maritime Transport, that sank on 3 February 2006 in the Red Sea en route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga in southern Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 911 GT2</span> Motor vehicle

The Porsche 911 GT2 is a high-performance, track-focused sports car built by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1993 to 2009, and then since 2010 as the GT2 RS. It is based on the 911 Turbo, and uses a similar twin-turbocharged engine, but features numerous upgrades, including engine enhancements, larger brakes, and stiffer suspension calibration. The GT2 is significantly lighter than the Turbo due to its use of rear-wheel-drive instead of all-wheel-drive system and the reduction or removal of interior components. As a result, the GT2 is the most expensive and fastest model among the 911 lineup.

Ryan Leet is an ocean-going salvage/supply tugboat. The tugboat is owned and operated by Offshore Marine Supply Services Inc. Justin Beaune its registered director and owner. The vessel is based in Panama, and operating in the Caribbean. As of 2022 she is used for towing of ships and barges, supply, ship-to-ship fuel transfers and fire and rescue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grimaldi Group</span> Shipping & logistics company

The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family and based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC, ro-pax and cruise ferries vessels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 911 (991)</span> Motor vehicle

The Porsche 991 is the seventh generation of the Porsche 911 sports car, which was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September as the replacement for the 997. The 991 was an entirely new platform, only the third since the original 911 launched in 1963. Production of the 991 generation ended on December 20, 2019, with 233,540 units produced.

The Type C7 ship(Lancer Class) is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for a cargo ship and the first US purpose-built container ship. The vessels were constructed in US shipyards and entered service starting in 1968. As US-built ships they were Jones Act qualified for shipments between US domestic ports. Under the Jones Act, domestic US maritime trade is restricted to US-built and flagged vessels of US owners and crewed by predominantly US-citizens. The last active Lancer container-configured ship was scrapped in 2019. Lancers of the vehicle Roll-on/Roll-off (RO/RO) configuration remain held in the Ready Reserve Force, National Defense Reserve Fleet and the US Navy Military Sealift Command. All are steam powered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 911</span> Sports car produced by Porsche

The Porsche 911 is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and originally a torsion bar suspension. The car has been continuously enhanced through the years but the basic concept has remained unchanged. The engines were air-cooled until the introduction of the 996 series in 1998.

Groupe Desgagnés is a Canadian shipping firm. It operates a fleet of nineteen vessels. Gross earnings in 2014 were around $230 million.

MV <i>Danica Joy</i>

MV Danica Joy was a passenger ferry owned and operated by Aleson Shipping Lines. She served the BIMP-EAGA Route of Zamboanga City - Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.

MV <i>Mega Bakti</i> Submarine rescue ship

MV Mega Bakti is a submarine rescue ship operated by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN). The ship was specially designed and built by Keppel Singmarine for use in Malaysia.

Jacklyn, formerly known as LPV, Stena Freighter, Stena Seafreighter, RFA Sea Chieftain, and originally Stena Hispanica, was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship which was purchased by Blue Origin in 2018 for use as a landing platform ship. Ultimately, Blue Origin abandoned their plans to use the ship as a landing platform, and in August 2022, the ship was towed to the Port of Brownsville for scrapping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messina Line</span> Italian shipping line

Messina Line is the maritime shipping division of Ignazio Messina & C., one of Italy's most historical shipping lines, operating 21 ships in between owned and chartered, and a total fleet of 41,000 TEU containers.

<i>Grande Tema</i> incident Ship stowaway incident in England

On 21 December 2018, there was an incident aboard the container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary. Four stowaways, who had travelled aboard the vessel from Lagos, Nigeria, demanded to be let off near the British shore. The crew of the Grimaldi Group ship refused, and when the stowaways made threats, they barricaded themselves on the bridge. The British authorities were alerted, and following failed negotiations, special forces operatives from the Special Boat Service landed on the vessel and detained the stowaways. The men were later found guilty of affray and making threats to kill and received prison sentences.

SRO GT2 is a class of grand tourer racing cars maintained by the SRO Motorsports Group. Despite the name, this class slots between GT4 and GT3 in terms of performance. The cars have more power than GT3 cars, with the most powerful entries at nearly 700 horsepower. However, they don’t have anywhere nearly as much downforce as a GT3 car. It also shouldn’t be confused with the Group GT2 from the early 2000s, which evolved into the now-defunct LM GTE class. The class uses a balance of performance to allow for close competition between competitors.

Spanish patrol boat <i>Serviola</i> Patrol boat in the Spanish Navy

Serviola (P-71) is the lead ship of the Serviola-class patrol boats of the Spanish Navy built in 1990. The ship has been involved in numerous anti-piracy and drug interdiction missions off the coast of Spain and in the Gulf of Guinea.

References

  1. "Fire-Stricken Grande America Sinks off France". Worldmaritimenews.com. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. "Grimaldi confirm Grande America fire started in container cargo". FreightWaves.com. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. "Royal Navy rescues container ship crew after it goes up in flames in Bay of Biscay (The Independent)" . Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. "Queen's Gallantry Medal for dramatic rescue sailor". BBC News. 25 February 2020.
  5. "Nach Schiffsuntergang droht Frankreichs Küste eine Ölpest". Tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. "Grande America: France braces for oil spill damage after ship blaze". 14 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  7. Mate Petrany (19 March 2019). "Porsche Is Restarting 911 GT2 RS Production to Replace Cars Lost at Sea". Road and Track. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  8. Michael Karkafiris (19 March 2019). "Cargo Ship Carrying New 911 GT2 RS' Sinks, Porsche To Resume Production Of Model (Update)" . Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  9. "Ocean Infinity to Conduct AUV Surveys for Petrobras". www.oedigital.com. 16 January 2019.
  10. "GRANDE AMERICA: Cargo Ship". www.vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  11. "Grande America Leaks Plugged 4,600 Meters Below Surface". www.worldmaritimenews.com. 23 April 2019.