Ro-Pax ship collides with dockyard crane in Barcelona

Bad weather caused an Italian-flagged Ro-Pax vessel to collide into a loading crane at the Port of Barcelona in Spain at around 08:00 local time on Wednesday, October 31.

Italian shipping operator Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) has stated that strong winds and sea currents caused the company’s Ro-Pax vessel Excellent to collide into one of the port’s loading cranes as it was coming in to berth.

The collision caused the crane to collapse, sparking an explosion and a fire among some nearby containers, some of which were believed to have contained hazardous chemicals.

Firefighters rushed to the scene and were able to put out the blaze within hours.

Excellent was carrying 420 passengers plus some motor vehicles at the time of the incident. No injuries have been reported.