A Zamastanian Cruise Ship and a Shuellan cargo ship collided around 1 am Thursday morning in the Alyeskan Sea off the coast of Shuell, killing 4 Shuellan sailors and 17 aboard the cruise liner, according to the Zamastan Coast Guard.
The cruise liner, the ZCRS Bonello, carrying 2,241 people and the 699-ton cargo vessel, the Souller GMbH registered SNV Lidérc. with 20 crew members collided approximately 2.5 kilometers northeast of the main Shuellan island. No oil leaks resulted from the collision, a local coast guard office said.
The front right side of Bonello and the front left side of the cargo ship came into contact, crushing the forward passenger cabins of decks two and three, where all the fatalities occurred on board the cruise liner. The cruise ship lost navigational control, the office said, and the Lidérc pulled away to avoid any further incidents. A Laeral registered ship, the cargo freighter Viercourt, was passing through the same shipping and commercial lanes, and diverted to assist people on board the Bonello. The Viercourt took aboard nearly 200 tourists before the Shuellan Coast Guard, with Zamastanian approval, decided to tow it to a shipyard on the main Shuellan Island. The captains of each vessel involved in the collision were arrested by Shuellan authorities upon their return to shore.
Bonello belongs to the Illycretes Seas Cruise Line based in Providence, Zamastan. The crusie liner was heading north-west toward a popular cruise ship location in the northern sea, while the cargo ship was sailing south-east to a port in Gonhog.
It was cloudy at the time of the collision, but there was clear visibility, and the waters were calm, the coast guard said.
The Shuellan government and Zamastanian government are working closely to investigate the incident. Zamastan has not formally requested the extradition of the captain of the Bonello back to Zamastan, but has already received waivers from the Shuellan government to fly all the surviving passengers back to Zamastan with reimbursements for the aircraft expenses.
Zamastanian Secretary of Transportation Madeline Essy conveyed her condolences to the families and victims of both the cruise line passengers and cargo ship sailors, while praising the Shuellan Coast Guard's quick action and the selflessness of the Laeralian Viercourt. She also promised a full investigation into the accident and that justice would be done.
The deceased individuals nationalities are as follows:
Bonello
Zamastan - 13
Laeral - 2
United New England - 1
Trive - 1
Lidérc
Shuell - 3
Gonhog - 1