The 8,566-teu MSC Elaine (built 2009) has been refloated days after it ran aground in Italy’s largest container port.
The container ship was this morning safely moored in the port of Gioia Tauro, according to the Italian coastguard.
The vessel was refloated yesterday, helped paradoxically by the stronger winds that helped liberate the vessel, according to Italian press reports.
The Panama-flagged boxship lost control while leaving the southern Italian port in the morning of 9 January.
The ship, which is owned and operated by Gianluigi Aponte-controlled Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), hit the breakwater. The vessel was manoeuvring in the port with the help of two tugs.
Weather conditions were optimal, with no wind or strong waves, according to the Italian Coastguard.
Four tugs were used to help free the vessel, while a team of local divers were deployed to check for damage to the hull.
There are no reports of damage to people or the environment, and port operations have resumed.
However, the Coastguard has opened an administrative investigation to identify the cause of the accident.
The MSC Elaine operates as one of ten ships of between 4900 teu and 9,200 teu operated in MSC’s Indus Express service connecting India with the Mediterranean and the US East Coast.
Yesterday, a Hamburg Sud boxship that grounded off Colombia was refloated by three tugs.
El Universal reported that the 5,552-teu Monte Pascoal (built 2005) got into difficulty in the Bay of Cartagena, off the town of Bocachica, on Saturday morning.
