HSC Pinar Del Rio
Ex Patricia Olivia, Incat 024
© Glenn Towler (Hobart)
Aluminium 74 Metre ‘Wave Piercing’ Catamaran built in 1992 by International Catamarans Australia Pty Ltd (Incat), Hobart, Australia (Yard No 024) as a car and passenger ferry.
Technical Data
- Length: 73.60m
- Breadth: 26.00m
- Draught: 3.10m
- Tonnage: 3,003 gross/1041 net/201 deadweight
- Engines: Four 16-cyl, Ruston 16RK270 diesels.
- Power: 16080 kW.
- Speed: 37 knots
- Capacity: 450 passengers, 84 cars
- Call Sign: CXXN, EAQM, 5BLQ4
- IMO Number: 9043952
- Registry: Palma de Mallorca/Spain 🇪🇸, Limassol/Cyprus 🇨🇾
- Sister Vessels: Christopher Columbus (025), Hoverspeed Boulogne (027), Seacat Tasmania (023), Hoverspeed France (026), Seacat Scotland (028), Stena Sea Lynx (031), Condor 10 (030), Juan L (032)
History
February 1st 1991: Keel struck.
February 16th 1992: Launched.
© Incat
July 10th 1992: Delivered to Buquebus International, Montevideo, Uruguay. Left builders for Montevideo via New Zealand – Chatham Islands.- Punta Arenas.
September 1992: Services Montevideo – Buenos Aires.
April 1996: Chartered to Nordström & Thulin, Visby.
April 15th 1996 – September 15th 1996: Gotland Line services Nynashamn – Visby.
September 1996: Returned to Buquebus.
October 1996 – April 1997: Services Montevideo – Buenos Aires.
April 1997: Chartered to Nordström & Thulin, Visby.
April 15th 1997 – September 1997: Gotland Line services Nynashamn – Visby.
May 9th 1997: While docking at Nynashamn, in strong winds, collided and damaged a pontoon. Taken out of service for repairs.
September 1997: Laid up in Landskrona.
October 1997 – March 1998: Services Algeciras – Ceuta.
April 1998: Chartered to Rederi Ab Gotland, Visby.
April 8th 1998 – September 26th 1998: Gotland Line services Nynashamn – Visby.
September 1998: Returned to Buquebus, Montevideo, Uruguay.
October 1998: Services Algeciras – Ceuta.
January 2000: Services Malaga – Ceuta.
© Capt Jan Melchers (Ceuta, 05/01/2000)
September 2000: Services suspended an laid up.
2002: Returned to service Malaga – Ceuta.
© Daniel Ferro (Algeciras, 24/06/2007)
March 2008: Registered to BuqueBus Espana Sau, Spain. Management Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas.
2008: Chartered to Balearia, Spain.
June 13th 2008: Services Denia – Ibiza.
July 17th 2008: Services Palma De Mallorca – Ibiza.
February 2010: Registered to Euromaroc 2000 S.L. Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Spain.
January 2011: Management Balearia Caribbean Ltd.
May 2011: Renamed PINAR DEL RIO and left the Mediterranean for Miami.
December 16th 2011: Balearia Bahama Express services Port Everglades – Freeport.
June 2013: Registered to Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas S.A, Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Spain.
© Wil Weijsters (Port Everglades, 03/11/2014)
© Wil Weijsters (Port Everglades, 26/11/2012)
2016: Services Sant Antoni – Denia.
May 1st 2017: Collided with the breakwater in Malaga.
© Juan G Mata (Algeciras, 10/05/2017)
© Mike Barker (Almeria, 06/07/2017)
June 8th 2018: Ran aground at the entrance to San Antoni, Ibiza.
© Juan G Mata
June 9th 2018: Freed herself and taken into port.
June 11th 2018: Arrived Gibraltar for repairs.
June 2018: Returned to service.
© Stephen Brown
August 17th 2019: Ran aground on a headland at the approach to Denia, grounded an began taking on water. Passengers evacuated and vehicle craned ashore.
© Manuel Hernández Lafuente (Denia, 18/08/2019)
August 30th 2019: Deemed a “Total Loss” it was decided to dismantle the vessel in situ.
October 1st 2019:
“ The two specialized companies Ardentia Marine and Varadero Vinaròs, SL were in charge of cutting up the vessel at the surface and removing the parts by means of a 250-ton crane. All these sections are transferred to the authorized recycling plant, which is managed by the company Varadero Vinaròs, SL. The underwater work, being of greater difficulty, required a team of specialized divers. In the coming days, a larger crane with a capacity of about 500 tons was installed along with a barge to be able to section and remove the submerged and heavier elements of the ferry, such as the engines.”.
September 21st 2021:
“An investigation report into the grounding attributed the accident to a double human error and the lack of controls at the port of Dénia. The report of an agency of the Ministry of Transport explained that the ship left the line that marks the entrance to the dock when the captain believed that the ship would collide with a recreational catamaran carrying 60 passengers. The ship bumped against a concrete block located on the north breakwater. There were no injuries among the 393 passengers and the crew, but the severity of the grounding and a storm during the following days made the ship a total loss. The report established that there were no technical causes. The 25-meter-long catamaran which was sailing out of the canal, forced the ‘Pinar del Río’ to get out of the line that marks the port entrance. There were two contributing factors of the accident. The first was human error: The bridge officers were not focused on the port entry manoeuvre, as they were attending to the training and familiarization of the bridge and engine officers who were going to take over. The second contributing factor refers to another more general reason for the Dénia dock – the absence of management, co-ordination and control of maritime traffic in the port since no one controlled that the ship could enter it while a catamaran with 60 passengers on board was already leaving the canal. If there had been that control, the event could have been prevented. The Ministry technicians recommended to establish an effective system for the control of maritime traffic in the port of Dénia and that the shipping companies contemplate the obligation to wait before accessing the entry channel in the event that there are vessels of a certain exit size and establish radio communications with these vessels.”.
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Mike Barker, Stephen Brown, Danial Ferro, Manuel Hernández Lafuente, Cap Jan Melchers, Juan G Mata, Glenn Towler, Wil Weijsters and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)
