SOCHI, March 23. /TASS/. A Turkish dry cargo ship has hit the piers of the bridge under construction in the Kerch Strait, a source in the "Crimean Bridge" information center told TASS on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on March 19 but became known only now. It has not affected the construction works of the bridge to Crimea in any way.
"On March 19 at 11:25pm Moscow time, the ‘Lira’ motor ship under the Panamanian flag, belonging to Turkuaz Shipping Corp, deviated from the recommended route near buoys 21 and 23a when sailing down the Kerch-Enikalsky canal, and then hit construction elements of the bridge," the source said.
As a result of the incident, pier number 80 was damaged, including piles of 1,020mm diameter and 58 meters long, as well as crossbars and pile heads.
The "Crimean Bridge" information center said that "changing the piers will not affect the date of putting the technological bridge into operation."
The crew of the ship - nine people - did not sustain any injuries. The dry cargo ship was put on raid at Taganrog’s port.
Construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait that links Krasnodar Region and Crimean Peninsula is expected to be finished in December 2018. The estimated cost for the construction stands at 211.9 billion rubles.