Maersk Vessel Loses 750 Containers in North Pacific
WMN.. About 750 containers have fallen overboard from a Denmark-flagged containership in rough weather in the North Pacific.
The incident occurred while the 13,100 TEU Maersk Essen was sailing from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles, California, on 16 January 2021.
The boxship, which is owned by China’s Bank of Communications, commercially controlled by Danish shipping giant Maersk and deployed in TP6 Asia/US West Coast service, experienced heavy seas during the crossing, resulting in the loss and damage of containers.
“All crewmembers are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing while the vessel continues on her journey. The US Coast Guard, flag state and relevant authorities have been notified,” Maersk said in an emailed statement.
“We view this as a very serious situation which will be investigated promptly and thoroughly. Operations and vessel safety are our highest priority and we will be taking any necessary steps to minimize the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future,” the company added.
Containers lost at sea
The World Shipping Council (WSC) recently released its 2020 update showing that, on average, 1,382 containers are lost at sea every year.
Despite a downward trend in the 2017-2019 period when 779 containers were lost every year, 2020 has seen a sharp increase due to a one-off catastrophic incident involving the containership ONE Apus and several other, minor incidents. The Japanese-flagged ship lost more than 1,800 containers due to severe weather conditions while transiting the Pacific Ocean in late 2020…reports World Maritime News.
The incident occurred while the 13,100 TEU Maersk Essen was sailing from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles, California, on 16 January 2021.
The boxship, which is owned by China’s Bank of Communications, commercially controlled by Danish shipping giant Maersk and deployed in TP6 Asia/US West Coast service, experienced heavy seas during the crossing, resulting in the loss and damage of containers.
“All crewmembers are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing while the vessel continues on her journey. The US Coast Guard, flag state and relevant authorities have been notified,” Maersk said in an emailed statement.
“We view this as a very serious situation which will be investigated promptly and thoroughly. Operations and vessel safety are our highest priority and we will be taking any necessary steps to minimize the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future,” the company added.
Containers lost at sea
The World Shipping Council (WSC) recently released its 2020 update showing that, on average, 1,382 containers are lost at sea every year.
Despite a downward trend in the 2017-2019 period when 779 containers were lost every year, 2020 has seen a sharp increase due to a one-off catastrophic incident involving the containership ONE Apus and several other, minor incidents. The Japanese-flagged ship lost more than 1,800 containers due to severe weather conditions while transiting the Pacific Ocean in late 2020…reports World Maritime News.
FOLLOW US
About Post Author
