MV ''Shelly'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

that was built in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 1973. She sank off the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 2007 after the

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

rammed her and broke her in two. Two of ''Shelly''s crew were killed.

Ship

The Ivan Dimitrov shipyard on the River

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Ruse, Bulgaria Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; ) is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of Bucharest, R ...

built the ship and launched her in 1973 as ''Zlatograd''. She changed hands in 1999 and was renamed ''Loti''. She changed hands again in 2002 and was renamed ''Dora''. In 2003 Israeli owners bought her, renamed her ''Shelly'' and

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

her in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. She was crewed not by Israelis but by other nationalities, mainly Slovaks and

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

Collision and sinking

On 30 August 2007, ''Shelly'' was at anchor about off Israeli coast, near the

port of Haifa The Port of Haifa ('';'' ) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. Its natural deep-water harbor operates all year long and serves both passenger and merchant shi ...

, when at about 10pm she was accidentally rammed by the Cypriot passenger ship ''Salamis Glory'', which had left port at Haifa several minutes before. ''Shelly'' sank quickly after the collision, which the

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...

said broke her in half. 11 crew members escaped, and most climbed aboard a rescue launch lowered by ''Salamis Glory'' and were subsequently rescued by the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

. The rest were rescued by helicopter. The survivors refused to be taken to a local hospital for treatment. ''Salamis Glory'' subsequently returned to port in Haifa, showing slight damage to her hull. None of ''Salamis Glory''s 700 or so passengers and crew was injured. The remaining two crew members were declared missing, prompting a search and rescue operation involving six naval vessels, multiple aircraft and divers. 12 hours after the sinking their bodies were recovered from the wreck by divers in of water. The dead were identified as the ship's

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

First Mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

and Ukrainian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. The vessel's sinking released an

oil spill 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 th ...

that moved down the coast, causing authorities to warn the public not to bathe at the nearby Zevulun beach. On 31 August Salamis Lines, owners of ''Salamis Glory'', arranged for 148 stranded Cypriot passengers from the ship to be flown back to Cyprus on a

Cyprus Airways Cyprus Airways ( Greek: Κυπριακές Αερογραμμές) is the flag carrier of Cyprus, based at Larnaca International Airport. It commenced operations on 1 June 2017. It is the largest airline in Cyprus and it has flights for all ar ...

jet.

Investigation

Israeli Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

launched a full investigation into the cause of the accident, aided by Cypriot authorities. All of ''Salamis Glory''s crew were interviewed. One possibility being considered was that there was a fault in the ship's navigation system, with some reports of a loss of steering control aboard ''Salamis Glory''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelly 2007 in Israel Maritime incidents in 2007 Maritime incidents in Israel Oil spills in Asia Ships of Bulgaria Ships of Israel Ships of Slovakia Ships sunk in collisions Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships built in Bulgaria Oil spills in international waters 2007 disasters in Israel