Australian authorities have arrested a panamax boxship owned by Yang Ming Marine Transport in Port Botany over environmental clean-up costs of up to AUD20m ($13.4m).
On Sunday, the Federal Court Admiralty Marshall arrested the 4,250-teu YM Eternity (built 2009) after the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) petitioned the court to recover costs.
According to VesselsValue, the ship is worth about $9.91m.
The YM Eternity is a sistership of the 4,250-teu YM Efficiency (built 2009), which lost 81 containers in gale-force winds off the coast of Newcastle and Port Stephens in June 2018.
Both vessels are owned by Yang Ming, the Taipei-based box carrier whose largest shareholder is the Taiwanese government.
AMSA claimed that Yang Ming suffered a “systemic failure to safely stow and secure cargo” that led to the YM Efficiency container spill. The YM Eternity was seized on 12 July, 2019 for the same reason, according to AMSA.
A total of 60 boxes from the YM Efficiency have been identified, five recovered while the remaining 16 is still missing.
In December, AMSA signed an AUD15m contract with Ardent Oceania for clearing up the 60 containers. Work begins in March and is expected to be completed within a month.
The forecast cost to locate and salvage the missing containers is up to AUD 5m.
AMSA chief executive Mick Kinley said the arrest of YM Eternity showed that AMSA will not allow international shipping companies to pollute Australian waters without consequence.
“If you pollute our waters and refuse to pay the price of cleaning up that pollution, we will hold you accountable. Our ocean won’t pay the price of Yang Ming’s pollution – Yang Ming will,” Kinley said.
The seizure came after AMSA said in January that it would force Yang Ming and the YM Efficiency’s protection and indemnity insurer, Britannia P&I, to pay for the Ardent Oceania contract and other clean-up costs.
At that time, Britannia responded by saying it had acted correctly following the casualty and quickly arranged for cleaning up some containers and debris that had washed ashore at a cost of $3m.
The insurer stressed that any attempt to recover the remaining containers from the seabed would risk causing additional environmental damage.
Britannia declined to comment on the latest arrest. Yang Ming has yet to respond to a request for comment.
