An Israel Navy vessel overturned at sea a few kilometers off the coast of Gaza on Monday.The Israel Navy safely evacuated all sailors back to shore and there were no injuries in the incident.The navy has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident and has temporarily frozen the activity of the patrol boats until it’s complete.
A senior navy source said that the Hornet boat, part of a patrol force consisting of one Dvora-class fast patrol boat and two Hornets, was at a distance of five kilometers from Gaza when the incident occurred.“The Hornet began to maneuver to the right to be alongside the Dvora, when water poured into the boat from a wave created by the Dvora,” the source said. “The boat overturned rightwards.”An initial investigation found that the boat’s crew acted correctly and sailed at a slow speed.“This wasn’t supposed to happen.They weren’t executing an unusual maneuver, and were not sailing wildly. The crew rescued itself and boarded the Dvora. We’re not assessing damages,” the source added.The navy believes tens of thousands of shekels of damages were caused to the boat, but that it will be back in service shortly. It was towed to the Askhelon power planet on Monday afternoon.Israel Navy vessel overturns at sea off the coast of Gaza
Navy temporarily freezes activity of patrol boats until investigation into incident is complete; no sailors hurt.
