Cargo Ship Runs Aground in Corsica

Photo courtesy Prémar Méditerranée

Authorities in France are responded to the grounding of a cargo ship on the island of Corsica early Sunday morning.

The 90-meter M/V Rhodanus with seven people on board was underway to Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone when it ran aground at around 3 a.m. local time near the town of
Bonifacio despite repeated calls from the Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) in Corsica.

According to France’s Prémar Méditerranée, watchstanders at the CROSS attempted to contact the ship for nearly 50 minutes but was unable to reach anyone on the bridge.

The ship is carrying 2,600 tons of steel coils.

A safety zone of 1,000 meters has been established around the wreck.

So far no pollution has been reported.

The 2,953 DWT Rhodanus was built in 1998 and is flagged in Antigua Barbuda.