On January 18, around 0900 hours, the Russian cruise ship Astoria Grande met with a collision with a breakwater near the Black Sea coast. The incident happened when the ship tried to enter a Turkish port called Amasra.
At the time of the collision, the ship was carrying 283 crew and 385 passengers travelling from Russia’s Sochi to Turkey. However, conditions weren’t favourable for their journey as there was a strong wind and rough sea.
Despite that, the ship sailed and ventured into the sea to wait for the weather to clear up to move into Amasra port.
The collision could have damaged the ship’s hull underwater. A situation divers need to assess soon.
Astoria Grande is a Palau-flagged passenger ship built in 1996 and operated by Aquilon, Moscow.
References: India Shipping News, Fleetmon