Two people were injured and Australia’s largest sailing training ship was virtually destroyed in a collision in an Australian port.
Photos of the STS Leeuwin II show it was severely damaged after colliding with the Maersk Shekou container ship in the port of Fremantle early on Friday.
St John WA confirmed three crews attended the incident at around 6.20am and treated two people who were on the STS Leeuwin II at the time.
A man in his 20s and a man in his 60s were taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, The West reported.
A man is believed to have a broken arm.
ABC reported that the container ship was hit by a “sudden storm” as it entered the port.
A caller to 6PR said they saw the ship in pieces on its way to Rottnest Island, The West reported.
“The Leeuwin has been completely destroyed,” he said.
Photos of the STS Leeuwin II show it was severely damaged after colliding with the Maersk Shekou container ship at the Port of Fremantle early on Friday.
The STS Leeuwin is a large sailing vessel owned by the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation, a youth development charity. The three-masted, 1850s-style vessel is used to train young people in the use of sails.
‘None of her masts are standing and she is leaning and hanging towards the port.
‘That container ship came into port and crashed into the Leeuwin.
“They dropped anchor to try to stop it and now they can’t get it out again. It must be stuck on the bottom.”
A Fremantle port spokesman said the Shekou was now under the control of tugboat operators.
The STS Leeuwin is a tall ship owned and operated by the youth development charity Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation.
The three-masted ship, built in the 1850s, is used to train young men in the use of sails.