Three fishermen were killed when a commercial pogy boat collided with a cargo ship in Mississippi Sound.
The Liberian-flagged reefer ship was accelerating to 10.8 knots when the collision occurred between Ship Island and Cat Island at about 2040, according to Automatic Identification System data provided by PortVision, a company that provides vessel tracking services. The channel is 220 feet wide at the collision location, Parker said.
The two vessels had communicated by radio and had arranged a port-to-port passing, said Omega Protein spokesman Ben Landry. He said the ship’s bow struck the starboard side of the pogy boat. He was unaware of any mechanical breakdowns aboard Sandy Point and didn’t know a reason for the accident.
The bow carved a 15-foot-long puncture into the fishing boat’s hull, Landry said. Sandy Point’s crew had only seconds to abandon ship while being pushed along.
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