An Evergreen Line boxship is reported to have lost 36 containers and suffered the collapse of several stacks in rough seas off Japan.
The incident aboard the 8,452-teu Ever Liberal (built 2014) occurred on 30 December as the ship was departing the Port of Busan bound for the US.
The UK-flagged vessel encountered strong winds and rough seas 20 nautical miles (37 km) south of Kyushu, Japan, according to Taiwanese media.
Evergreen is quoted as saying that no one was injured in the incident, and none of the containers contained dangerous goods.
The ship’s captain immediately notified the Japan Coast Guard so that ships in adjacent waters could be warned about the drifting containers.
The Ever Liberal diverted to the Port of Taipei for an initial inspection.
Evergreen is reported to have engaged an unnamed salvage operator to retrieve the drifting containers.
An accident investigation report published in July by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) into a major container collapse on an Evergreen Line containership during heavy weather in the Pacific cited poor stowage.
The container collapse on the UK-flagged 7,024-teu Ever Smart (built 2005) in October 2017 occurred as the vessel hit heavy weather sailing 700 miles off the coast of Japan heading for Los Angeles.
The MAIB report said the collapse had likely been caused by a “combination of factors”. Investigators found the ship’s stowage plan did not comply with the vessel’s cargo manual, most importantly, on the issue of weight distribution.
Spate of casualties
This caused the container stack’s centre of gravity to move upwards and accelerate forces acting on lashings. Investigators also found that some twist locks in the collapsed container bay were “corroded and should have been discarded”.
MAIB recommended that Evergreen work to ensure cargo stowage planners are fully trained in ship loading computers and to introduce a programme of lashing equipment inspections.
The incident involving the Ever Liberal is the latest in a spate of casualties that have seen boxships lose containers overboard in rough weather.
Last month, an Ocean Network Express vessel lost thousands of containers in a storm off Hawaii.
The 14,000-teu ONE Apus (built 2019) remains in the Japanese port of Kobe where about 126 containers have been removed from the stricken ship.
Discharging operation and inspection work was suspended during the Japanese New Year holiday and is due to resume on Tuesday.
According to the Swedish Club, containers lost at sea are among the most expensive claims it faces as a protection and indemnity insurer.
The Gothenburg-based mutual estimates that an average claim for containers lost overboard amounts to $135,000, which is more than two and a half times higher than the average claims cost.
While lost containers account for just 4% of its total number of claims, they accounts for over 10% of its costs.
Bad weather is one of the major catalysts for containers being lost over board, with the other being misdeclared cargo, the club said.
On average 1,382 containers are lost at sea every year, according to the latest update from the World Shipping Council.
