River Ship Collides with Barge on Russian River

100 passengers on the chartered ship, Sergei Kirov, got the scare of a life time when their cruise ship collided with a barge on the Volga River. Fortunately there were no deaths or injuries. 3 crew members suffered very minor injuries while they were rescuing passengers belongings from the flooding cabins, or preventing the ship from sinking. The chartered ship, though, suffered a 5m gash   in the ship letting in whater before the crew took action to prevent further disaster.

A spokesman for the local branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry told local news, Interfax:

“The crew listed the ship immediately and began bailing water out and removing property from [flooded] cabins. The water was pumped out, and a patch was improvised from inside.”

The ship was chartered to Europe’s Viking River Cruises. She was sailing with 111 passengers. The incident occurred in the Rybinskoye Reservoir of Russia’s largest river, the Volga.  The other ship involved was transporting sand.