Spanish cargo ship breaks in half during port crash in high winds
Thursday, February 6, 2014 @ 12:17 PM
A CARGO ship has crashed off the coast of south-western France and the 12 Spanish members of the crew have been evacuated.
The Luno, a Spanish container ferry, literally broke in half when it collided with a pier in the port of Bayonne, near Biarritz and close to Spain's Basque Country border.
It was not loaded at the time, meaning it was lighter than usual and the gale-force winds and torrential rain off the north coast of Spain battered it about, thrusting it into the pier when captain Lunel Delort tried to dock.
Winds in the Bay of Biscay, from Brittany in north-western France down to Galicia in north-western Spain have reached nearly 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), making it difficult for rescue boats and helicopters to travel to the scene of incidents.
In the end, the 12 occupants of the ship were airlifted via a French military helicopter to dry land, says the mayor of the nearby town of Anglet, Jean Espilondo.
Read more at thinSPAIN.com