There was a collision in Piraeus harbour today, 1st August 2008, between the Louis Cruises newest ship ' Cristal ' and the ANEK Lines ferry ' Lissos' .

No reports have appeared about damage to the ships although the Cristal was about six hours late sailing for Istanbul.

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Originally posted by DAMBROSI:
What name did the CRISTAL have before? What does she look like??

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She was the Sally Albatross, started sailing as ferry Viking Saga from 1980's that burned down during a refit in 1990, part of the hull was the used to build Sally Albatross II in 1992. In 1994 she ran aground on and was partially submerged in ice . She's been with Silja twice as Sally Albatross and as Silja Opera before being sold to Louis. She was also with NCL as Leeward and with Star Cruises as Superstar Taurus, I believe there she also had some problems with power and energy loss. As Cristal she replaced the Sea Diamond that sank in Santorini last year. That little ship's been through a lot.

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
I recall during her years with Silja, she had a collision with a cargo ship that resulted in lifeboat damages.

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Yup, I forgot about the collision, here's a video:
VIDEO

[ 08-02-2008: Message edited by: Carlos Fernandez ]

Yesterday at the port of Piraeua there was 76 arrivals and 70 sailings in 24 hours so the port is very busy and congested at this time of the year with both cruise ships and ferries.

The latest Greek newspaper reports say that Cristal ran into the Lissos while she was embarking passengers so it could have been a steering or engine control problem on board the Cristal.

This would appear to be the first problem Louis Cruises have had with the Cristal which they bought in May 2007.

More serious was the broken window on Flying Cat 3 yesterday, but little news as not a cruise ship.

Then there was the evacuation of 600 pax from the Viking in Liverpool yesterday as her hull was compromised with a hole ripped in her rear port side against the Pier Head landing stage.

Pam

[ 08-02-2008: Message edited by: PamM ]

Any navigation officers working on cruise ships need to be qualified.

I have cruised on Greek owned ships and found their deck officers very experienced

Salaries are nothing to do with accidents which happen to many other countries ships as well !

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Originally posted by PamM:
[QB]Anyone who has ever been to Piraeus wonders quite how vessels manage not to hit each other. At times it is a constant melee of moving ships. This is just another 'brush' resulting in material damage only, apparently near the anchor on LISSOS. Both ships were inspected and found fine. Another dent on a hull plenty on every vessel.
QB]

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"Brush" or "made contact" or "gently nudged" would appear to be more appropriate ways of describing what happened as opposed to "collide" or "rammed" or whatever!! There is little enough room to swing a cat within Piraeus Main Port!

Having said that, following Zenith's demolition of The Aegean Pearl's lifeboats on Monday rendering the latter out of action for a week demonstrates that even drifting towards a berth can wreak havoc!!

I was an officer at sea with P&O and my yearly salary was way above what I would earn ashore or on some foreign flag ships so I am aware of the differences.

You do get some though that like to work near to home which happens with a lot of the officers on the Greek ferries and cruise ships.

Neil ( Bob )

[ 08-02-2008: Message edited by: Neil Whitmore ( Bob ) ]

Personally, I find it a bit strange and even creepy how often more or less only the nationality of the crew (or officers) and not so much their education or experience is used to 'sell' to the passengers that the crew or officers are highly qualified. In fact, the worst seamanship I have ever encountered was aboard a very prominent ship sailing under the flag of a once proud seafaring nation well know for the highest standards.

[ 08-02-2008: Message edited by: Ernst ]

If you read some of the blogs by Peter Knego, where he has been on some of the Greek ships and talked with their Captains, some have had a lot of experience and been with the bigger companies.

As they get older they may like a quieter time and are quite happy sailing on an older ship around the Greek islands for a lower salary !