Further to previous reports about containers falling overboard from the Maersk Essen, it has been reported that the vessel has arrived at Lazaro Cardenas, modern, deep-water port on the Pacific Coast that serves Mexico City..
But the vessel will only berth on the 30th of January after which cargo operations will commence.. As per WK Webster, a general average situation could be looming..
In the latest incidence of containers falling off the ship, it has been reported that the Maersk Essen, a 10 year old mega container ship with a 13,100 TEU capacity has lost 750 containers overboard..
The Pacific Ocean is yet again the scene of this incident coming close on the heels of the ONE Apus maritime disaster in December 2020..
And yet again, heavy weather is said to be the reason for this loss as well..
Since the inception of containerisation, the shipping container has been used to ship various products around the world.. An estimated 793.26 million TEUs were handled in container ports worldwide in 2019.. As of this article, 23.8 million TEUs are being shipped around the world in 6,136 active container ships.. These containers are being carried on container ships that are increasing in size and capacity year after year..
Naturally, there is increased concern and focus on the safety of the ship, its crew due to the number of containers being carried onboard especially because there have been several maritime disasters in the last few years, some of which have been reported in detail on this site..
A few of the incidents that involved containers falling of a ship have been attributed to the lashing of containers onboard or lack thereof..
We look at the importance of proper lashing of containers onboard ships..
The MSC Palak a Portuguese flagged container ship built in 2016 with a carrying capacity of 9,411 TEUs is reported to have lost 23 containers while at anchorage around the Port of Ngqura (Coega) along the Eastern Coast of South Africa..
As you may have read, I recently wrote about “Containers lost at sea, why it happens, what to do when it happens and also about What is a ship register or ship registry..
Recent news reports of 83 containers falling off a ship off the coast of Australia in heavy seas seems to have triggered a question in the minds of some people Is the ship register or ship registry liable for containers falling off a ship..??
When reading the news articles about this incident, I noticed something very interesting in the way in which the general public and the shipping fraternity identify a ship, its markings and the areas of concern.. 🙂