Heavy-lift vessel arrested over damaging shipyard and U.S. Navy destroyer
A court in Mississippi has issued an arrest warrant for the heavy-lift vessel Hawk after it collided with a barge at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula last month, causing it to damage the new U.S. Navy destroyer USS Delbert Black.
The Hawk was delivering a new dry dock to Ingalls Shipbuilding on March 29 when it collided with a test barge, the Sun Herald reports. The barge was alongside the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Delbert Black and was supporting electrical work on the destroyer. The collision pushed the barge into the Delbert Black.
Ingalls’ spokesman Bill Glenn told the newspaper people were treated for minor injuries at the scene by Ingalls’ medical personnel.
The arrest warrant for the Hawk, which is owned by Oslo-based shipping company Offshore Heavy Transport and managed by Songa Shipmanagement, follows a civil suit filed by Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent company of the shipyard, who are seeking compensation for damages.
According to the lawsuit, the Hawk lost control and veered off course and collided with the barge, causing significant damage to the test barge, the floating dry dock, the wharf and the Delbert Black. It also says the damages were caused “solely by the fault, neglect and/or lack of due care” of the companies and the unseaworthiness of the M/V Hawk
Ingalls estimates total damages amount to roughly 60 million dollars. Half of that amount is related to damages of the destroyer, the other half to damages of the barge and shipyard facilities.
According to data from Marine Traffic, the Hawk is currently moored in the port of Pascagoula where Ingalls Shipyard is situated.
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