A Danaos Shipping capesize bulker has been banned from Australian ports for three months after authorities described it as “unseaworthy”.
The state of the 175,858-dwt Peace (built 2010) was described as so poor that it “represented a very real and unacceptable risk to the safety of seafarers onboard and Australia’s marine environment”.
The Peace is the second Danaos Shipping vessel to be given a lengthy ban from national waters by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) this year.
In January, the 5,610-teu Suez Canal (built 2002) was the subject of a prolonged detention by authorities.
AMSA acting executive director of operations Greg Witherall said Danaos’ failures with the Suez Canal gave the authority “serious cause for concern” about other ships operated by the company — leading the authority to increase the frequency of inspections.
“In January 2024 we issued Danaos Shipping with a formal letter of warning, urging the company to rectify the systemic issues which led to the Suez Canal being detained in Australia that same month,” said Witherall.
“Clearly that letter of warning fell on deaf ears. Fast-forward five months and we have had yet another one of Danaos Shipping’s vessels, the Peace, detained in an Australian port for a lack of maintenance and serious deterioration of fixtures and fittings such as hatches.
“The state of Peace was so poor that it represented a very real and unacceptable risk to the safety of seafarers onboard and Australia’s marine environment. Ships cannot be operated in this unseaworthy state.”
Witherall said the watertight and weathertight failures on the Peace had catastrophic potential.
The bulker was detained in Newcastle, New South Wales on 31 May, a detention that was lifted on Monday after the deficiencies were rectified.
“Allowing a ship to fall into a state of deterioration is completely unacceptable — there are no excuses for this level of neglect,” said Witherall.
“That is why we have taken the next step of banning this ship from entering an Australian port again for three months.
“Further action may be taken against the company itself should Danaos Shipping continue down this trajectory of operating unseaworthy ships.”
Australia takes a tough stance against substandard vessels. Twenty-three ships have been banned for between three months and three years since July 2020.
