Videos have emerged showing an out of control commercial oil tanker hitting a row of three Brazilian Navy patrol boats, as well as the pier, in the Port of Santos along the country’s southeastern coast last night.
The Brazilian-flagged Olavo Bilac suffered an issue with its rudder while maneuvering between piers, according to multiple Brazilian media reports citing the Port Authority of Santos. The incident happened at around 11:20 PM local time on Wednesday. The Port of Santos is situated just to the southeast of the city of São Paulo.
As can be seen in the videos below, which offer views of the incident from what appears to be a closed circuit camera at the port and the ship’s deck, the nearly 817-foot-long (249-meter-long) Aframax class tanker first went careening into a pier after the loss of rudder control. It then struck a moored patrol boat, which was then pushed into two other patrol boats.
The extent of the damage to any of the four vessels is unclear, but full assessments and a larger investigation are now reportedly underway. A picture, seen below, has also emerged that is said to show damage to Olavo Bilac’s hull.
Reports say that Olavo Bilac, which is carrying 50,000 tons of fuel oil, did not suffer any leaks as a result of the incident. The only reported casualty at the time of writing appears to be an unnamed Brazilian Navy officer who suffered only minor injuries and has already been released after receiving medical care at the Santa Casa de Santos hospital.
The three Brazilian Navy vessels involved in the incident have been identified as two Grajaú class patrol boats, the Guajará and the Guaporé, as well as the Macaé class patrol boat Maracanã. The Grajaú class is a 200-ton-displacement design armed with a 40mm Bofors cannon and two 20mm Oerlikon cannons, and that has been in service in Brazil since the 1990s. The Macaé class, which has the same armament as the Grajaú class, is a newer 500-ton-displacement patrol boat, with the first one being commissioned in 2009.
The incident at the Port of Santos is one of a number of notable (and unrelated) ship collisions that have occurred in 2025 already. Just this week, the U.S.-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate was left in flames after being hit by the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship Solong off the coast of the United Kingdom, which you can read more about here. In February, U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Harry S. Truman collided with the Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo ship Besiktas-M in the Mediterranean Sea just north of the Suez Canal. Truman was back at sea before the end of the month after receiving initial repairs in Souda Bay in Greece.
Thankfully, the incident overnight in the Port of Santos in Brazil looks to have been relatively contained despite the striking visuals.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com