Pilot schooner "No. 5 Elbe": "Elbe 5" accident: Interim report of the marine casualty investigators

Naturally, this short interim report cannot shed much light on the hotly debated question of which of the mistakes that led to the tragic accident are more serious. Nevertheless, it makes interesting reading. The summary states:

On 8 June 2019 at 13:54, a collision occurred on the Elbe near Stadersand between the Cyprus-flagged container ship "Astrosprinter" and the traditional German ship "No. 5 Elbe". The vessel had just completed a turn to return to Hamburg when two sails tore loose. While the crew was busy getting these sails under control, they neglected to change the side of the fairway to suit their own direction of travel. As a result, "No. 5 Elbe" first narrowly missed the oncoming "Hanna" and then collided with the "Astrosprinter".

Eight people on board the former pilot schooner, which was carrying a crew of 15 and 28 passengers, suffered mostly minor injuries. As the incident progressed, "No. 5 Elbe" was able to reach the nearby mouth of the Schwinge under its own power with the support of the DLRG boat "Kiek Ut", before it ran aground and sank shortly before the pier. All the people were rescued in time thanks to the fortunate circumstance that rescue teams from the Stade volunteer fire brigade and the DLRG were already on site and the fact that the vessel was in sheltered waters.

The WSP reached the BSU's on-call investigator at 1430 to report the marine casualty. This was the start of one of the BSU's more complex investigations. In addition to the standardised procedures, such as interviewing all the witnesses, which in this case were above average, and reading and analysing electronic records (from the VDR or VTS), numerous other issues were investigated, such as the shipbuilding aspects of the traditional sailing vessel.

Due to the scope and restrictions imposed by the coronavirus crisis, the report could not be published within the one-year deadline. However, the draft has been completed and is currently in the consultation phase until 24 June 2020. Once the comments have been received, it is planned to publish the final report in July/August 2020.

Click here for the full interim investigation report.