The motor ship ''Ranga'' was a 1,586 tonne container ship owned by the Spanish shipping company, Naviera Ason SA, but on charter to the Icelandic shipping company,

Hafskip Hafskip (, ) was Iceland's second-largest shipping line before its collapse which became a national scandal. The firm had fallen deep into debt through its investment in new ships, intended to help the firm compete with Eimskip and American shippin ...

. She was formerly named ''Berta de Perez'', but her name was changed at sea to ''Ranga'', due to the Icelandic charter. The ''Ranga'' was on her maiden voyage from Vigo to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

under Captain Miguel Ángel Díaz Madariaga. The ship lost power on this voyage during a storm, and was wrecked at at Dunmore Head, close to Coumeenole Beach, near

Slea Head Slea Head (Irish language, Irish: ''Ceann Sléibhe'') is a headland, promontory on the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. It can be reached by the R559 road (Ireland), R559 road, with the nearest vil ...

on the

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

peninsula,

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 11 March 1982.

Rescue

The local rescue team comprising members of Dingle Fire Brigade, the Garda Síochána and emergency services, rescued some of the fifteen crew members by

Breeches buoy A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harne ...

. The remainder were taken off by an RAF helicopter. Captain Miguel Ángel Díaz Madariaga was the last to be rescued and dropped off the vessel.

Disposal

The ship was a total loss and created

oil pollution An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into ...

as she broke up. The ship broke into two parts quickly, the stern of the ship, with the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

on, and the bows. In 1989, the company Eurosalve tried to scrap her, but this failed due to the inaccessibility of the wreck. The stern section of the wreck was removed in 1991, due to filming of ''

Far and Away ''Far and Away'' is a 1992 American epic Western romantic adventure drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Bob Dolman and a story by Howard and Dolman. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. This was the last cinematography cr ...

'', which included a scene shot at Dunmore Head. Today, only the bow and some other scattered pieces of wreckage are still visible. File:Shipwreck Ranga 1.jpg, The remains of the ''Ranga'' in 1984 File:Shipwreck Ranga at Dunmore Head, Ireland.jpg, The remains of the ''Ranga'' in 1984 File:ShipwreckRangaDunmoreHead1986.jpg, The ''MV Ranga'' remains pictured in 1986 File:Ranga shipwrecked at Dunmore head, Dingle, Ireland.jpg, The bow section in 2006 File:The remains of the Ranga at Dunmore Head, Ireland.jpg, The superstructure remains in 2006

References

* Bourke, EJ. (1994). Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast Volume 1, p. 157. . * * "Los Barcos de Pérez Y Cía", 2001.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranga Container ships Maritime incidents in 1982 Shipwrecks of Ireland 1980 ships Ships sunk with no fatalities

Rescue

Disposal

See also

References

External links