Maersk Cargo Ship Losses 260 Containers In Pacific

2021 is proving to be a difficult year for Maersk container ships as the shipping giant reported a second container loss this year. It’s just February and Maersk has been at the receiving end of 2 container loss incidents.

This time it is the 13100 teu Maersk container vessel Maersk Eindhoven making its way from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles, California. The incident happened when the vessel was near Japan. So far no one is harmed and the crew is safe and sound, assessing the damage and looking for a port of refuge.

So far Maersk have said that they have alerted the appropriate authorities of the latest developments. Further information will be provided when they know more.

Image Credits: Alf van Beem – wikimedia.org

Engine Failure

The 11 year old Denmark registered boxship had an engine failure mid sea making the ship roll severely. This led to the loss of 260 containers which went overboard.

Maersk client MSC informed its customers some several hundred of containers had gobe overboard but it hasn’t been identified yet whether they were MSC cargo.

The ship was passing through Japan eastbound in the Pacific when it happened. The restored propulsion and reversed course towards the nearest port in Asia to repair the damage.

Maersk Taking Things Seriously

In a statement given by the company Maersk reiterated its commitment stating that they are considering this as a serious situation and investigating promptly.

“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. A customer communications plan and claims process were urgently put in place for those customers impacted”, read the Maersk statement.

Earlier Incident

During a Pacific storm recently another Maersk vessel lost 750 containers near Hawaii. The company is still recovering from it. The ship involved in that incident Maersk Essen was diverted to Mexico where it went through repairing for minor damages and offloaded the damaged containers to move ahead. In that incident 350 MSC containers were lost and 79 more were damaged. Essen resumed its journey to Los Angeles and is slated to arrive by 4th March.

Poor Stacking & Inappropriate Weather Action Blamed

The recent incidents of container loss at sea, first by Maersk then by ONE Apus has put container shipping in a spot. High level of investigation is on to understand this growing problem. Many speculate increased loads and stacking practices are causing overweight issues which might be the reason for this. Poorly packed containers and inadequate timely action while traveling in heavy weather is making way for more container loss.

Source: Maritime Shipping News