Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (COTUNAV), which operates ferries between Europe and Africa, said that its ferry Ulysse collided with the CSL Virginia about 15 nautical miles north of Corsica.
An Associated Press report on The Washington Post website reported the accident happened on Sunday.
CSL Virginia is a 5,000-TEU ship that is part of the fleet of Cyprus Sea Lines, and the shipping data base Equasis describes Ulysse as a passenger/roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel.
According to BlueWater Reporting, CSL Virginia had operated in the Montreal Express/AT1 service of MSC, OOCL and Hapag-Lloyd, but was replaced in August with a smaller ship.
A report on the website Maritime Executive said the CSL Virginia was not carrying cargo at the time of the collision.
Tunisian Maritime said the collision caused some material damage. The AP said “a hole of several meters long in the full of one of the ships” had caused an oil spill.
A photograph supplied to the AP by France’s Marine Nationale showed the bow of the ferry in the side of the containership.
The Tunisian shipping company said it has been coordinating with the Crisis Management Department of the Ministry of Transport to assess the damage and take legal action to secure the ship and goods.
The website Medi Telegraph reported both ships had departed Genoa, Italy, before colliding off Corsica.