Από το Autonews.com:

Crew of 24 saved; 2,862 vehicles lost

When the Tricolor, a car carrier operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines of Oslo, Norway, sailed out of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Dec. 13, it was starting an around-the-world freight cruise.

At about 1:25 a.m. on Dec. 14, in the foggy English Channel, it ran into another ship and sank.

The Tricolor's cargo of 2,862 U.S.-bound Volvos, Saabs and BMWs was insured for about $45 million, according to Wallenius. That's about $15,700 apiece.

The ship was supposed to stop first in Southampton, England; then cross the Atlantic to Baltimore and Brunswick, Ga.; go through the Panama Canal to the West Coast cities of Port Hueneme, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash.; cross the Pacific to Yokohama, Japan; and eventually return to Europe, picking up and dropping off cars along the way, said Wallenius spokesman Per Ronnevig.

But the Norwegian-registered Tricolor and a container ship, the Bahamian-registered Kariba, ran into each other.

The Kariba limped into port with a bashed bow, but the Tricolor quickly sank.

Its crew of 24 was rescued by the Kariba and by a nearby tugboat.

The accident happened in a thick fog less than 10 miles from land in one of the busiest choke points in the world's oceans.

Ship captains are supposed to slow down as much as possible in fog. But ships the size of the Tricolor - 627 feet long, 49,792 gross tons - and the Kariba - 578 feet long, 20,829 gross tons - are impossible to stop quickly, even at extremely low speeds.

If a collision had to happen, the crew would have been in more danger at higher speeds and/or farther from land. Material losses also could have been much worse.

The Tricolor, built in Japan in 1987, could carry up to 6,050 cars.

Από το Autonews.com:

Crew of 24 saved; 2,862 vehicles lost

When the Tricolor, a car carrier operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines of Oslo, Norway, sailed out of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Dec. 13, it was starting an around-the-world freight cruise.

At about 1:25 a.m. on Dec. 14, in the foggy English Channel, it ran into another ship and sank.

The Tricolor's cargo of 2,862 U.S.-bound Volvos, Saabs and BMWs was insured for about $45 million, according to Wallenius. That's about $15,700 apiece.

The ship was supposed to stop first in Southampton, England; then cross the Atlantic to Baltimore and Brunswick, Ga.; go through the Panama Canal to the West Coast cities of Port Hueneme, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash.; cross the Pacific to Yokohama, Japan; and eventually return to Europe, picking up and dropping off cars along the way, said Wallenius spokesman Per Ronnevig.

But the Norwegian-registered Tricolor and a container ship, the Bahamian-registered Kariba, ran into each other.

The Kariba limped into port with a bashed bow, but the Tricolor quickly sank.

Its crew of 24 was rescued by the Kariba and by a nearby tugboat.

The accident happened in a thick fog less than 10 miles from land in one of the busiest choke points in the world's oceans.

Ship captains are supposed to slow down as much as possible in fog. But ships the size of the Tricolor - 627 feet long, 49,792 gross tons - and the Kariba - 578 feet long, 20,829 gross tons - are impossible to stop quickly, even at extremely low speeds.

If a collision had to happen, the crew would have been in more danger at higher speeds and/or farther from land. Material losses also could have been much worse.

The Tricolor, built in Japan in 1987, could carry up to 6,050 cars.

Από το Autonews.com:

Crew of 24 saved; 2,862 vehicles lost

When the Tricolor, a car carrier operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines of Oslo, Norway, sailed out of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on Dec. 13, it was starting an around-the-world freight cruise.

At about 1:25 a.m. on Dec. 14, in the foggy English Channel, it ran into another ship and sank.

The Tricolor's cargo of 2,862 U.S.-bound Volvos, Saabs and BMWs was insured for about $45 million, according to Wallenius. That's about $15,700 apiece.

The ship was supposed to stop first in Southampton, England; then cross the Atlantic to Baltimore and Brunswick, Ga.; go through the Panama Canal to the West Coast cities of Port Hueneme, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash.; cross the Pacific to Yokohama, Japan; and eventually return to Europe, picking up and dropping off cars along the way, said Wallenius spokesman Per Ronnevig.

But the Norwegian-registered Tricolor and a container ship, the Bahamian-registered Kariba, ran into each other.

The Kariba limped into port with a bashed bow, but the Tricolor quickly sank.

Its crew of 24 was rescued by the Kariba and by a nearby tugboat.

The accident happened in a thick fog less than 10 miles from land in one of the busiest choke points in the world's oceans.

Ship captains are supposed to slow down as much as possible in fog. But ships the size of the Tricolor - 627 feet long, 49,792 gross tons - and the Kariba - 578 feet long, 20,829 gross tons - are impossible to stop quickly, even at extremely low speeds.

If a collision had to happen, the crew would have been in more danger at higher speeds and/or farther from land. Material losses also could have been much worse.

The Tricolor, built in Japan in 1987, could carry up to 6,050 cars.

Στο ίδιο θέμα

Sinking sends car dealers scurrying
Retailers try to keep buyers whose vehicles were lost at sea

Add shipwrecks to the list of things that can go wrong with launching a car.

The Dec. 14 sinking of the ship Tricolor -- in a thick, English Channel fog -- hit Volvo Cars of North America just as it began sales of its first sport-utility, the XC90.

The ship was carrying nearly 3,000 U.S-bound Saabs, BMWs and Volvos - including 358 XC90s. U.S. dealers have accepted deposits for about 9,000 XC90s but so far have delivered only 290 in October and 881 in November.

'This will add to the waiting list,' said Michael Lazarus, executive vice president of group operations for Long Island Automotive Group, which includes BMW and Volvo stores in Massapequa, N.Y. At the current rate, 358 vehicles represents about two weeks worth of sales, when the waiting list is already months long.

'There was a loss of about 360 cars among about 360 dealers,' Lazarus said. 'I'm sure some guys will scream about the loss of one car, but we will share the pain; the factory will reallocate some cars.'

At full production, the company expects U.S. sales of about 3,000 XC90s a month. That would make the XC90 Volvo's biggest seller in the United States.

Volvo lost 2,020 U.S.-bound vehicles - about 70 percent of the ship's cargo - including 637 S60 sedans. As of Dec. 1, Volvo reported a 56-day supply of cars in the United States, down from 95 a month earlier.

*Dealers are scrambling *

The automakers said they are insured against the financial loss. But U.S. dealers are scrambling to find dealer trades to satisfy customers who already may have been waiting weeks for their cars.

If those customers are willing to wait, all three factories say they will put the customers at the head of the line for new deliveries, which typically take about 45 days. If the customers won't wait, the dealer has to put them in a different vehicle - or unhappily refund the deposit.

Tim Smith, general manager of Bob Smith BMW in Canoga Park, Calif., said dealer trades and reshuffling allocations by the U.S. subsidiary should satisfy most customers. But some customers insist on an unusual combination of colors, options and equipment, he said.

There was also a handful of 'European delivery' cars on the Tricolor - for instance, a half-dozen Volvos. Those are a special case because each customer paid for the car, put some miles on it in Europe and shipped it home as a used car to save customs duties. Dealers and factory spokesmen last week were unsure how those were insured or what will be done for those customers.

Down with the ship

Besides the lost Volvos, about 500 Saabs also sank. Saab Cars USA Inc. said 480 of them were 9-3s and the rest 9-5s. The company sold 1,536

9-3s in the United States last month. Low inventory should not be a problem; the company had a fat 155-day supply on Dec. 1.

BMW said it lost about 335 cars - a mix of 3-, 5- and 7-series models. There were no X5 sport wagons or Z4 sports cars aboard because they are built in South Carolina. Minis, built in Great Britain, were not on the ship.

The BMW brand sold 20,873 cars and light trucks in the United States in November. The company had only a 24-day supply of BMWs, not including Minis, on Dec. 1.

Smith was philosophical about the sinking. 'In this business, we're used to things happening - a car falling off a truck or whatever,' he said. 'One good thing about a ship sinking: It's not something people will blame on the dealer.'