Steamship Mutual will have to provide security of AUD 22m ($14.8m) to secure the release of an APL containership under detention in Australia.
The 5,510-teu APL England (built 2001) was detained in the Port of Brisbane last week after nearly 50 containers were lost overboard off Sydney.
An initial inspection of the ship found that lashing arrangements for cargo were inadequate and securing points for containers on the deck were heavily corroded, in what was described as a “clear breach” of Solas requirements.
“We have placed an additional requirement on the owner of the ship under the Protection of the Seas Act, which must be met before the ship will be released from detention,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) confirmed in a statement.
The maritime regulator said the funds would “provide a commitment that the owners will remediate all impacts of this incident”.
Financial security
AMSA said the AUD 22m financial security from the insurers would “cover the estimated costs including that of a clean-up operation”.
Separately, the master of the vessel has been charged with offences related to pollution and damage of the Australian marine environment due to poor cargo loading.
AMSA general manager operations Allan Schwartz said laying charges against the ship’s master was "not undertaken lightly".
“This and other incidents remind us of the important role the ship’s master has in ensuring the ships that ply our waters are operated safely and do not damage our marine environment.
“Today’s actions should not detract from the responsibility of the shipowner APL Singapore, insurer Steamship Mutual, and operator ANL, who remain accountable for remediation of any impacts of this incident.”
AMSA said it welcomed ANL taking responsibility by engaging contractors to undertake shoreline clean-up and retrieve some of the floating containers this week.
But it warned that the impacts of the incident could "take months, if not years" to remediate, and it said it expects these efforts to be sustained for "however long it takes”.
Schwartz said the ship remained under detention in the Port of Brisbane and would not be released until its serious deficiencies have been rectified.
