Posted by on 29 December 2011 | 0 Comments

A report from the December 28th 2011 on-line version of TradeWinds:

An unexplained incident in one of the busiest arms of the Baltic Sea has left a UK-flag, German-controlled containership pierced through the bow, with gaping holes through hull and deck.

No one knows what penetrated the 700-teu Johanna (built 1999) on 22 December in the busy waters of the Kadett-Rinne between Denmark and the coast of the German state of Mecklenburg. But whatever it was made a 1.1m hole through the tip of the starboard bow above the anchor and another the same size higher up on the port side, according to German newspaper accounts.

The ship, said to be under repair now in the Swedish port of Karlskrona, is controlled by German owner HG Voge, based in Drochtersen near the mouth of the Elbe.

 The incident was first reported yesterday and several available reports contradict each other in essential details, some dating the incident to 18 December or placing the ship in a Finnish yard for repairs.

But all available accounts agree in ruling out any very obvious explanation.

German naval sources are quoted as denying that they possess any missiles or torpedos that could leave a hole that big, or emerge that far from the water to pierce the hull of a vessel. The heavily-traveled waterway is furthermore completely off-limits to exercise or target practice by any country's miliatry.

Some have speculated that a component of a windmill could have fallen and penetrated the ship. However, the edges of the starboard hole are reportedly bent inwards and those of the higher hole to port bent outwards, presumably indicating the object's upward trajectory.

Comment from the owner was not immediately available.