On the 6th of March 2018, Maersk Honam, one of Maersk’s ultra-large containerships caught fire in the Arabian Sea while en-route from Singapore to Egypt..
Five crew members perished in this incident which was one of several maritime disasters especially to have affected container ships in recent history..
Based on the lessons learnt from the Maersk Honam incident, Maersk Line announced that after a thorough review of current safety practices and policies in the stowage of dangerous cargo, they have implemented a set of new guidelines termed Risk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage to improve safety across its container vessel fleet..
If you recall, it was reported that all containers in the fore (front of the ship) section, from f’castle to superstructure were a total loss and this section carried containers with hazardous cargoes – flammable liquids and solid cargoes, oxidising substances, toxic and infectious cargoes, and corrosive materials..
All cargo from these forward holds were declared a total loss, but the containers aft of the ship’s superstructure were mostly found in an undamaged condition..
Maersk Honam which has a nominal capacity of 15,262 TEUs has been in Jebel Ali since April 2018..
Maersk Line has just revealed plans that the Maersk Honam will be resurrected..
According to Maersk, a 228.5m long sound section of the ship, from mid-ship to stern, will be transported from Dubai Drydocks to South Korea on the Xin Guan Hua a heavy lift vessel operated by Cosco specialising in such movements..
This portion of the ship will be taken back to the Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea where it was originally built and here the ship will get a new forward section including accommodation blocks..
The damaged forward section will be kept in Dubai Drydocks where further salvage action continues, including the removal of damaged containers and debris, after which this section is expected to be recycled..
Maersk expects the resurrected vessel to resume active sea service around the second half of 2019..
The rebuilding and recycling is reported to be part of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative which A.P. Moller – Maersk joined recently..
