The update on the ONE Apus maritime disaster as of the last day of 2020 – 31st December is that the discharging operations of the remaining containers have been proceeding steadily and since the first day of container discharging at Kobe, a total of 126 boxes have been safely discharged as of the 29th of December 2020..
The discharge operations for the safe removal of the remaining containers on deck started on the 11th of December after permission to proceed was granted by the Japanese Coast Guard..
As per ONE, container inspection and survey work has also commenced and customers can expected to be contacted individually for appropriate cargo arrangement where necessary, once more cargo information is available..
The careful removal of the dislodged units under a schedule formulated by stowage planners is expected to take over a month with safety the number one priority..
The fact that only 126 containers have been offloaded since the 11th of December should bear testimony to the jumble of containers on board and how difficult the operations would be to offload each container with zero to minimum damage to the container, cargo and ship and also bearing in mind human safety..
ONE has also advised that the discharging operation and inspection work has been suspended during Japan’s New Year holiday which is from 30th Dec 2020 till 4th Jan 2021.. The operation and inspection will resume on the 5th January 2021 but at a slower pace due to repair work to its deck(s) simultaneously..
Once all containers have been unloaded, each will be assessed, and when the discharge of cargo is complete, there will be a full assessment of damage to the vessel and subsequent repairs.. A thorough investigation is being conducted into this incident in conjunction with the Flag State (in this case Japan) and the relevant maritime authorities..
The ship remains safely berthed at the Port of Kobe after it encountered severe weather on Monday, November 30, 2020 leading to a container stack collapse of around 1,816 containers including 64 hazardous containers..
Stay tuned for more updates on the ONE Apus incident.. You can read all the updates thus far, here..
In the meantime you can read up more on containers falling off ships, who is responsible and the importance of proper lashing of containers on board..
If you need further info about container stowage itself, you can read up on the basics of container stowage planning and why it is important..
