A 631-foot containership apparently veered off course while sailing in Hong Kong’s East Lamma Channel Sunday and ran straight into a sea wall leaving curious spectators wondering just what went wrong.
Amateur videos and photos captured the moment the German-flagged Hansa Constitution ran aground in front of the Stanley Ho Sports Centre in Pokfulam, Hong Kong just after 1 p.m. local time. The videos here are just two of a handful already on Youtube showing the incident.
In the video below you can the anchor was dropped in an attempt to slow the ship, but eventually its bulbous bow made contact with the sea wall ran aground as it reached the sea wall.
The 2,810 TEU Hansa Constitution was reportedly able to reverse off the sea wall before emergency services arrived.
Local police said ship may have run aground due to monsoon wind, according a report from Bloomberg.
Hong Kong’s weather observatory dispatched a “strong monsoon signal” at 6:45 p.m. Sunday, the Bloomberg report said. The Marine Department said Sunday that restricted visibility of less than two nautical miles had been reported and warned vessels in Hong Kong waters to exercise “extreme caution,” according to a notice posted on the government’s website.
The ship is operated by Hansa Shipping GmbH & Co. KG and was built in 1997.
THIS IS REAL. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. A big ship failed to make a U-turn and then… (Venue: Sandy Bay, Hong Kong, today) pic.twitter.com/TRGDirqEGN
— George Chen (@george_chen) April 6, 2014
Source
