Video Shows Frantic Moments Before Historic Schooner’s Collision with Containership

Video Shows Frantic Moments Before Historic Schooner’s Collision with Containership

June 14, 2019 by Mike Schuler

Some new video today from on board the Elbe No. 5 shows the moments just prior to the historic schooner’s collision with a containership on the Elbe River near Hamburg last week.

As we reported, the Elbe No. 5 partially sank after it collided with the 150-meter containership Astrosprinter near Hamburg last Saturday afternoon. Nine injuries were reported among the 43 people on board the vessel.

In the video, you can see someone aboard the schooner give five short blasts of the horn as the containership closes in in the distance. Later someone seems to yell something which sounds like “hard to port”.  The video cuts out before the collision, but we know how it ended:

Built in 1883, the Elbe No. 5 is Hamburg’s oldest wooden ship still in operation, according to Hamburg Maritime Foundation, which has owned the ship since 2002. The Elbe No. 5 originally operated as a pilot vessel for more than 30 years, but later used as a private yacht, credited with making 13 transatlantic crossings, according to Hamburg Maritime Foundation’s website.