Mysterious Cargo Ship Continues Journey After Hitting A Sailing Vessel With 20 Onboard

A sailing vessel was hit by a cargo ship and sank off Colombia’s Carribean Coast on January 3, 2026.

Twenty people were rescued by the Colombian Navy, who brought them to land and performed medical checks. Fortunately, nobody suffered from any injuries.

The incident unfolded close to Cartagena, and the passengers on the sailing vessel entered emergency life rafts, per the Captain’s order.

The Cartagena Coast Guard got a distress call at 4:40 a.m., after which they sent the rescue unit to the location.

The sailing vessel sank quickly as a result of the impact, but everyone made it out safely. Among those rescued were Colombian, Swedish, French, German and British nationals.

Felipe Portilla, commander of the Cartagena Coast Guard Station, said that two response vessels were used in the rescue operation, in which they saved the captain, 3 crew members and 16 passengers.

The name of the sailing vessel has not been revealed by authorities, though Italian skipper Rudolf Gamberoni later expressed his gratitude to the rescuers while recalling the dangerous incident.

He said that they were struck by a small cargo ship, which made a massive hole in their sailing boat that went down in minutes.

He thanked the coastguards who came quickly to the scene.

The sailing vessel was on a 5-day, 4-night trip between Panama and Colombia. It had left the San Blas Islands on December 30, 2025.

Investigations have started to identify the cargo ship involved in the incident.

Reports suggest that the ship continued its journey without stopping.

Source: Maritime Shipping News