Maritime News reports that The general cargo ship VMF Alita sank off Colon, Panama. The ship was anchored off the port for some time and sold for scrap, but on Friday morning collided with another anchoring vessel, which caused hole above the waterline and water ingress. The ship increased list to port board to 40-45 degrees and partially is under the water with big danger of capsizing. During the accident on board of the ship there were just a few crew members, who succeeded to abandon VMF Alita without injuries. The Ship continue to get water ingress and partially sank, but authorities dispatched two tug to assist with salvage if still possible.

Fortunately there is no injured people and water pollution during the accident. The cargo vessel was anchored off Panama several weeks and waiting to be scrapped, with just a few seamen on board. The collision was caused by another cargo vessel, which was maneuvering to drop anchor off Colon, but the strong current and winds caused hitting the port side of general cargo ship VMF Alita and damaging her hull. The authorities started investigation for the root cause of the accident and will monitor for oil spill and water pollution.

The general cargo ship VMF Alita (IMO: 8503814) has overall length of 106.60 m, moulded beam of 16.10 m and maximum draft of 5.00 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 4,250 DWt and the gross tonnage is 3,790 GRT. The ship was built in 1989 and operate under the flag of Venezuela.