Originally Posted by This is Southamptonn

http://www.thisissouthampton.co.uk/hampshire/southampton/news/SOTON_NEWS_NEWS2.html

Container ship demolishes port jetty as engine fails

A FULLY laden container ship demolished a jetty at Southampton docks after it lost engine power as it tried to berth.

The 107,000-ton Hapag Lloyd Savannah Express was attempting to moor at Southampton Container Terminals when investigators believe its engine cut out, allowing the prow to smash into the dockside.

The link span jetty, which was used for loading vehicles on to roll-on-roll-off ships, was destroyed.

Tugs raced from across the port to bring the vessel under control and berth it safely.

Nobody was injured in the incident, which also caused no pollution.

Eyewitness Colin Cooper, 51, was in his Marchwood flat, directly opposite the terminal.

"I heard this very loud dragging, scraping sound. Then I heard a metallic bang and ran to the balcony and saw it had gone nose first into the dock.

"There's no real damage to the ship but there's a big piece of the dock missing."

Deputy harbour master Mike Evans said: "Initial investigation seems to suggest an engine failure which prevented the vessel from checking its forward motion. Once a vessel loses its engines it's quite a problem."