CMA CGM Christophe Colombe - April 2011

The fall of the CMA CGM CHRISTOPHE COLOMB starboard lifeboat is attributable to a mechanical factor, which was very probably originated during the construction of the vessel.

0n 15 April 2011, the container carrier CMA CGM CHRISTOPHE COLOMB was alongside in Yantian port (China). A test of the starboard lifeboat was organised with three men on board, an officer, a cadet and an AB. The test went on smoothly until the final phase of the hoisting : when the forward pulley block contacted the davit, the swivel broke away from the linking devices to the quick release hook. The lifeboat tipped down.; simultaneously the part of the hull on which the base plate of the aft hook was bolted had been torn off. The lifeboat went down upside down after a 24 meter fall. The cadet had been thrown out under the impact.; the officer and the AB had been trapped inside the capsized boat.

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CMA-CGM Christophe Colombe - April 2011