The ferry Cecilia Payne, from the shipping company Baleària, suffered an incident on Sunday afternoon during its docking maneuver at the port of Algeciras, which has forced the company to temporarily suspend its operation to assess the condition of the ship. The vessel, which was covering the Ceuta-Algeciras route with a departure at 5:30 PM, collided with the dock in the last meters of the approach to the maritime terminal.
The impact, noticeable from inside the ship, caused visible damage on the starboard side of the vessel. According to port sources and eyewitnesses, the impact did not injure any passengers or crew members, although the usual safety protocol for such incidents was activated. The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras mobilized technical personnel to inspect the area and rule out structural or environmental risks.
The passengers, who were mostly ready to disembark at the time of the incident, remained on board for several minutes until the safety checks were completed. They were later able to leave the ferry without further issues.
Following the accident, Baleària has canceled the scheduled departures of the Cecilia Payne from Algeciras at 8:30 PM and from Ceuta at 10:15 PM. Instead, and given the typical high demand on Sundays, the company has scheduled an extraordinary rotation of the Avemar Dos, which will operate from Algeciras at 10:30 PM and from Ceuta at 11:59 PM to ensure connectivity between both shores of the Strait.
The incident has not affected the rest of the operations at the port of Algeciras, which has maintained its scheduled departures without significant delays. Meanwhile, the Cecilia Payne will remain out of service until a thorough technical inspection is completed. The shipping company has announced that it will open an internal investigation to clarify the circumstances of the accident.