The reasons for the collision of a Turkish cargo ship with the Kerch bridge have been identified. A criminal case was opened for damage to a bridge support in the Kerch Strait on March 23, which was carried by a Turkish cargo ship.

The agency reported that Lira-type vessels with a draft of less than 4.5 meters or a length of less than 140 meters, in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated October 21, 2015, are not subject to mandatory pilotage. The bulk of ships passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are 60-100 meters long, and all shipowners sail without a pilot. This was the case with the ship "Lira" of the Turkuaz Shipping Corp., sailing under the Panamanian flag.

However, the construction work in the Kerch Strait does not affect the navigation zone in the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, through which ships freely pass from the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Azov and back. However, the captains of all ships have been warned about the installation of supports for the second and third technological bridges. They are laid towards each other from the side of Kerch and Tuzla Island in the direction of the fairway.

As Rosmorrechflot data confirms, the work of bridge builders does not affect the passage of ships. The fairway will remain free for ships to pass throughout construction and is marked with special buoys. In January 2016, for example, 3,629 passages through the canal were recorded - more than 50 percent more than in the same period in 2015. Including the number of transit passes increased by 13 percent - to 961.

"Lyra", warning, you are on a dangerous course, change course to the left, keep course 067 degrees. Between the buoys,” said the traffic control dispatcher in the Kerch Strait, addressing the captain of the ship on March 19 at 23.30.

"Lyra, change course to the left"; "Lyra, captain, you are on a dangerous course"; "Lyra, captain, stop moving forward, full reverse," the dispatcher continued.

But for some reason there was no response from the captain of the Lyra, nor a change in the dangerous course.

Judging by the transcript of the negotiations, the collision of the dry cargo ship with the supports of the bridge under construction occurred at 23.35 on March 19. Two minutes later, the captain reported that the “chief mate was checking” the condition of the vessel. Later, the captain of the Pobeda ferry appeared on the radio. “We were passing by, and a Lyra drove between the piles,” he told the dispatcher.

However, according to the head of the Center for Maritime Law, Vasily Gutsulyak, such “requirements” of the dispatcher are not mandatory. The final decision is made by the captain, and “he is ultimately responsible for everything that happens to the ship.”

“Any instructions from the traffic control service are in fact advisory in nature. Just as in the relationship with the pilot who paves the way, the captain is free to listen to him or make an independent decision,” Gutsulyak explained to the Vzglyad newspaper.

The expert is confident that the collision with the supports was accidental, because “there are no kamikazes among the captains.” At the same time, he recalled that 90% of all accidents at sea are related to the human factor. Emergencies can be explained by low qualifications of the crew, absent navigator, pilot, or natural causes.

District Sea of ​​Azov It is considered difficult for sailors to navigate. Firstly, there is shallow water here. Secondly, the situation is constantly changing: either complete calm, or a large surge wave, which poses a serious danger. “Under these conditions, it can be difficult to control the ship and not go off course,” Gutsulyak noted.

Russian border guards have no complaints against the crew - the sailors did not violate international norms. “In the Sea of ​​Azov, where the Lyra was heading, there are both Russian and Ukrainian ports, and there is no way to get to them from the Black Sea except through the Kerch Strait,” the press service of the FSB border department told Komsomolskaya Pravda - Crimea. Crimea.

Consequences

The head of the Center for Maritime Law does not think that criminal prosecution will begin against the participants in the emergency. Still, responsibility will lie in the sphere of civil law relations. When the damage is accurately established, the circumstances of the case become clear, and most likely there will be a trial. And in order to ensure the demands of the injured party, the ship may be arrested, he explained.

Investigators opened a criminal case in connection with the collision Turkish bulk carrier with the support of a temporary bridge in the Kerch Strait. “Now the ship is detained in the port of Taganrog. Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the collision. In addition, the case on the legality of the vessel’s actions will be considered in the Arbitration Court,” RIA Novosti reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.

The incident occurred on March 19. At 22.30, the ship "Lira" under the flag of Panama was moving from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait without a pilot at a speed of about 7 knots (about 13 km/h). It should be noted that since 2015, the Ministry of Transport has exempted vessels, the parameters of which the Lyra fits, from pilotage in the Kerch Strait. However this order was adopted before the bridge began to be actively built in the strait, and the traffic intensity increased sharply.

A violation of navigation rules by the dry cargo ship was recorded by the traffic regulator in the strait.

The captain was informed about this, emphasizing several times that the Lyra was heading on a dangerous course.

But, judging by decoding radio communications between the operator of the regional vessel traffic control system (RSTS) and the captain of the Lyra, the dry cargo ship ignored navigation recommendations for some time and continued to move on the same course and at the same speed.

After several minutes of exhortation from the operator, the bulk carrier began to slow down, but a collision could not be avoided. The cargo ship collapsed on one of the supports of the auxiliary bridge, along which cargo should be delivered for the construction of the main - Kerch - bridge. As a result, one support was destroyed, two more were partially displaced, and a number of structural elements were damaged.

After the collision, the captain of the Lyra got in touch again and stated that the ship was in good condition, asking permission to move on independently. The RVTS operator, who had previously advised the Lira “to proceed with a pilot next time, you are not ready to proceed without a pilot,” insisted that the bulk carrier proceed to the anchorage area near the port of Kavkaz. After this, the ship left for its destination - Taganrog.

“On the afternoon of March 20, after receiving an application to detain the vessel in connection with the incident, port employees inspected the Lyra.

Traces of fresh paint are visible on the side - they tried to hide the traces of a collision with a support.

The vessel was detained under maritime regulations for 72 hours. Stands in Taganrog. The ship is old - more than 30 years old,” a TASS source said in maritime services region familiar with the situation.

As clarified by the acting Director of the Department of State Policy in the field of maritime and river transport Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Klyuev, existing legislation gives the captain seaport the right to detain a ship and/or cargo in the port at the request of any interested party “for security purposes for a period of no more than 72 hours.” This is a common world practice, Klyuev noted. “Within 72 hours, the interested party must submit his demands to the shipowner in a judicial manner - that is, through the court. And the court already decides future fate detained ship. In particular, he can arrest him for security purposes. If the court decides to arrest, the captain of the seaport will ensure the court's decision without releasing the ship from the seaport. Let me emphasize once again that this is a common practice for the work of a seaport captain,” Klyuev said.

The possibility of obtaining compensation for damage from the owners of the cargo ship is now being clarified. At the same time, the risks during the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait were not insured, FlashCrimea reports.

However, the incident will not prevent the completion of the working bridge in established deadlines. It will not affect the delivery date of the main bridge to Crimea. This was reported by the department of federal highways"Taman".

“Vessels passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are informed about the work in the water area outside the fairway. In addition to the mandatory notification, which has been in force since the summer of 2015, the construction work area is limited by special navigation signs, the department reported. — The work front does not affect the shipping zone — the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, through which ships pass from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea and back. The fairway will remain free for the passage of ships throughout construction, with the exception of a short period of time in the future when technological operations will be carried out to install the navigation span arches.”

At the same time, the Kerch Bridge itself is supposed to be protected from a possible recurrence of such incidents. The supports of the main bridge's navigable span, according to the project, will be protected from possible ship pile-ups by special hydraulic structures - firewalls. They will be built from metal sheet piles with stone backfill and reinforced concrete caps, the department explained.

The fate of the ill-fated cargo ship remains unknown. However,

Not only the future, but also the ship’s past is foggy.

It was initially reported that the bulk carrier Lira, which collided with the support of a working bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait, belongs to the Turkish company Turkuaz Shipping Corp. However, this turned out not to be the case.

“The vessel is not currently under our control or in the ownership of our company. Therefore, we are not responsible for the specified vessel and do not have any information regarding the Lyra,” Ibrahim Erol, one of the founders of Turkuaz Yacht & Ship Services Co Ltd, told Gazeta.Ru.

According to the portal Shipspotting.com,

in 2010, Lira belonged to Turkuaz Shipping Corp, however management company at that time there was JSC Yugreftransflot (YURTF), registered in Sevastopol.

Gazeta.Ru contacted the Yugreftransflot company, and they explained that the ship was indeed once under their control, but currently it belongs to the Turks. “We have long ago transferred it to other hands and are not monitoring its fate,” Yugreftransflot told Gazeta.Ru with noticeable relief.

From 2010 to the present day, the ship has been owned by Voda shipping, headquartered in Istanbul. The Gazeta.Ru company explained that management was not on site and employees could not comment on the incident without their permission.

There are at least two versions of the collision of the Turkish cargo ship Lira with the supports of the Kerch Bridge: the inattention of the crew, who ignored the instructions of the dispatcher, or the oversight of Russian officials, who allowed sailing without a pilot. The accident will not affect the construction of the bridge, but the builders are ready to sue the owner of the vessel. It has already been detained.

Reasons

The reason for the collision of the Turkish cargo ship Lira with a bridge across the Kerch Strait was the absence of a pilot on the ship, Flash Crimea reports, citing a source familiar with the situation. “Rosmorport previously decided to allow ships like the Lira to pass through the Kerch Strait without pilotage. The collision is the result of bureaucratic carelessness,” the source noted.

“Who then allowed them onto the ship, who allowed them to go to sea?”

The President of the Union of Transport Workers of Russia and First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transport Vitaly Efimov called for a thorough understanding of everything first. However, he already has questions about the actions of the Turkish crew.

“We realized it, we didn’t realize it, we need to look,” he told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – But if they didn’t even realize it, then we are talking about non-professionals. Who then allowed them onto the ship, who allowed them to go to sea? I think that claims should be made against those who made such decisions.” The expert also expressed confidence that a collision with bridge supports would be a good signal for the future for Russian special authorities. “They will be very attentive to the current story,” he believes.

The second version is that the crew of the dry cargo ship Lira, owned by Turkuaz Shihhing Corp, under the control of the captain, a Turkish citizen, repeatedly ignored the demands of ground services to return to the normal course. Dispatchers of the Turkish cargo ship are aware of the danger, as evidenced by the transcript of the negotiations, which was at the disposal of TASS.

"Lyra", warning, you are on a dangerous course, change course to the left, keep course 067 degrees. Between the buoys,” said the traffic control dispatcher in the Kerch Strait, addressing the captain of the ship on March 19 at 23.30.

"Lyra, change course to the left"; "Lyra, captain, you are heading on a dangerous course"; “Lyra, captain, stop moving forward, full reverse,” the dispatcher continued.

But for some reason there was no response from the captain of the Lyra, nor a change in the dangerous course.

Judging by the transcript of the negotiations, the collision of the dry cargo ship with the supports of the bridge under construction occurred at 23.35 on March 19. Two minutes later, the captain reported that the “chief mate was checking” the condition of the vessel. Later, the captain of the Pobeda ferry appeared on the radio. “We were passing by, and a Lyra drove between the piles,” he told the dispatcher.

“Any instructions from the traffic control service are actually advisory in nature. Just as in the relationship with the pilot who is paving the way, the captain is free to listen to him or make an independent decision,” Gutsulyak explained to the VZGLYAD newspaper.

The expert is confident that the collision with the supports was accidental, because “there are no kamikazes among the captains.” At the same time, he recalled that 90% of all accidents at sea are related to the human factor. Emergencies can be explained by either low qualifications of the crew, an absent navigator or pilot, or natural causes.

The area of ​​the Sea of ​​Azov is considered difficult for sailors to navigate. Firstly, there is shallow water here. Secondly, the situation is constantly changing: either complete calm, or a large surge wave, which poses a serious danger. “Under these conditions, it can be difficult to control the ship and not go off course,” Gutsulyak noted.

Russian border guards have no complaints against the crew - the sailors did not violate international norms. “In the Sea of ​​Azov, where the Lyra was heading, there are both Russian and Ukrainian ports, and there is no way to get to them from the Black Sea except through the Kerch Strait,” the press service of the FSB border department told Komsomolskaya Pravda - Crimea. Crimea.

Consequences

The head of the Center for Maritime Law does not think that criminal prosecution will begin against the participants in the emergency. Still, responsibility will lie in the sphere of civil law relations. When the damage is accurately established, the circumstances of the case become clear, and most likely there will be a trial. And in order to ensure the demands of the injured party, the ship may be arrested, he explained.

A TASS source in the insurance market noted that the risks associated with the Kerch Bridge under construction were most likely not insured, so payments from commercial insurers would not follow.

Citing its own sources, LifeNews notes that the damage will be estimated at tens of millions of rubles, and the incident itself will be resolved in court. Restoring the destroyed support, according to the publication, may take up to several months.

In the information center " Crimean Bridge"The VZGLYAD newspaper was informed that the incident with the dry cargo ship will not in any way affect the construction of a working bridge in the Kerch Strait. “Moreover, this will not have any impact on the timing of the construction of the main bridge to Crimea,” they added.

The information center also said that construction and installation work on the bridge does not interfere with navigation. At the same time, all ships passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are informed about construction work. In addition to the mandatory notification, which has been in force since last summer, the work area is limited by special navigation signs.

The collision occurred on March 19, but information about the incident has only appeared now. As a result, support No. 80 was destroyed. Two lighthouse piles were also destroyed, and supports No. 79 and No. 81 were displaced, the Taman Department of Federal Highways told the newspaper VZGLYAD.

In a sense, the builders were lucky. After all, the dry cargo ship is supporting the wrong bridge, which will ultimately connect Crimea and Krasnodar region, but auxiliary, necessary for the construction of the main one. Working bridges are laid towards each other from the side of Kerch and Tuzla Island in the direction of the fairway.

By the way, the Kerch Bridge has special hydraulic structures to protect its supports from incidents. These works were planned in accordance with the project, Glavgosexpertiza back in February, so there is no need to talk about the impact of a minor accident on large-scale construction.

The emergency occurred due to the “inhibition” of the crew and the order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation

The reasons for the collision of the Turkish cargo ship Lira with the auxiliary structures of the Kerch Bridge have yet to be understood in detail, but there are already two versions. Some blame the captain of the ship, who did not listen to the operator, others see the root of the evil in the order of the Ministry of Transport, which allowed ships to sail without a pilot - as a result, Saturday’s emergency was the third in a row. Meanwhile, the Turkish cargo ship was detained for 72 hours - it is docked in the port of Taganrog.

As it became known last night, on March 19, the Turkish bulk carrier "Lira", owned by a Turkish company, but flying the flag of Panama, passed through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal, which is used for the construction of a highway over the Kerch Strait. One support and two sawis ​​were completely destroyed, two more supports were displaced.

The collision became inevitable after the Turkish vessel, at a speed of about 7 knots, unexpectedly went beyond the “green edge” in the area of ​​buoy 19 on the eastern side of the canal. The captain tried to slow down and return to the fairway, but to no avail. However, the damage caused was not too serious. According to the Crimean Bridge information center, renovation work will not affect the completion date of the Kerch Bridge.

The Lyra and its crew of nine (two Indian citizens, five Turks and two Georgian citizens) were also not injured. However, when the damage caused is assessed, the situation will be resolved in court, the information center emphasizes.

Rosmorrechflot assured that the bridge construction work will not interfere with shipping. All vessels passing through the Kerch-Yenikalsky Canal are aware of the work outside the fairway. In addition, the construction zone was marked with special navigation signs.

By the way, the erected working bridges go towards each other from Kerch and the island of Tuzla, but none of them crosses the shipping canal and never will. According to local media reports, the Lyra may have deviated from its course due to the fact that there was no pilot on board. After all, according to the order of the Ministry of Transport, since 2015, vessels with a draft of less than 4.5 meters or a length of less than 140 meters have been exempted from pilotage. In this regard, the collision of the ship with the supports is called the result of bureaucratic carelessness. After the incident, Kerchtraffic Control ordered the Lira to take a pilot on board. Now the ship is in the port of Taganrog - it was detained for 72 hours

The Crimean Bridge Information Center agrees with this formulation of the problem. They confirmed that the absence of a pilot on board the cargo ship was legal, and the ship simply could not navigate under the new navigation conditions. The influence of the order of the Ministry of Transport in the Information Center is recognized as having a “negative” impact on security in the strait.

At the same time, they remind that since the order came into force, this is already the third similar case(before this, a river-sea class vessel and a ferry crashed). By the way, the cost of pilotage is not too high. And it's only $200.

The editor-in-chief of the Maritime Bulletin, Mikhail VOYTENKO, shared his view of what happened with MK: “The absence of a pilot on board, of course, could have been the cause of the emergency. But the Lyra is a regional ship that constantly sails along this route. Therefore, the captain was able to navigate his ship independently.

It is not clear why he began to press closer to Crimean coast. It's hard to say now. We need to figure out whose fault is greater for what happened, but, in theory, “Lyra” is to blame. At the same time, rumors that the Turks could deliberately ram the Crimean Bridge under construction are complete nonsense. They have nothing else to do. The ship belongs to a private owner who will hang himself for every extra dollar. When Türkiye began to aggravate relations with Russia, its private companies continued to transport Russian cargo.”

By the way, the ship “Lira” made money by transporting domestic flights. This time the cargo ship was transporting ammonium sulfate from the Tuapse port to Taganrog.

Meanwhile, the first results of the investigation showed that the blame still lies with the captain of the vessel, who for seven minutes did not respond to warnings from the operator of the regional vessel traffic control system (RSTS) about the deviation from the course.

Experts have named the reasons for the collision of the Turkish cargo ship Lira with the support of a bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait. It is noted that the Turkish ship did not have a pilot and it was moving through the strait without proper guidance.

As it became known on Wednesday, the reason for the collision of a bulk carrier of the Turkuaz Shihhing Corp company with a support of the Kerch Bridge was the absence of a pilot on the Turkish vessel. “Rosmorport previously decided to allow ships like the Lira to pass through the Kerch Strait without pilotage. The collision is the result of bureaucratic carelessness,” reports FlashCrimea, citing a source familiar with the situation.

It is also noted that the incident with the Turkish ship will not affect the construction of the Kerch Bridge in any way. “The incident with the dry cargo ship Lyra, as a result of which the support of working bridge No. 2 in the Kerch Strait was damaged (three piles of support No. 80 of the working bridge were bent), will not affect the progress and period of construction of this working bridge. Moreover, this will not have any impact on the timing of the construction of the main bridge to Crimea,” TASS quotes a message from the Department federal highways"Taman", which is the customer of the construction.

Earlier it was reported that on March 19, a Turkish cargo ship collided with the support of a bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait. No one was injured during the incident. The damage from the collision of the vessel with the structure of the building is estimated at tens of millions of rubles.