The owners of an APL containership that lost 50 containers overboard off Australia last month has been “directed” to search for the missing containers.
The 5,510-teu APL England (built 2001) lost the containers off Sydney after running into heavy weather while heading to Melbourne.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the direction also orders the owners to “recover the containers”.
AMSA said it has identified a priority search area of about 1,000 square km stretching between the Illawarra and Sydney’s southern suburbs.
“Drift modelling and analysis of container sightings following the incident indicates that missing containers could be in this area at water depth of up to 200 metres,” it said.
“Containers within the search area pose the most immediate environmental threat and may present a safety hazard for commercial fishers.”
Fifteen of the 50 missing containers have been recovered from the shoreline or towed in after being spotted floating off the coast, said AMSA general manager response Mark Morrow.
“The owner’s and operator’s responsibility to clean-up the mess left behind by their ship does not end at the water’s edge,” he said.
“We have only just finished cleaning-up more than 60 containers and their contents from the seafloor off Newcastle after Yang Ming’s ship YM Efficiency lost containers back in June 2018.
“That is not a pollution legacy that any respectable ship owner or operator would want to leave behind in their wake.”
Morrow said AMSA expected the owner and operator to respond to the direction with a “detailed search plan” in the coming days.
“Failure to comply with this direction constitutes an offence under Australian law,” he added.
