The 13,092 teu Maersk Essen, en route from China to Los Angeles, lost approximately 750 containers on Saturday during heavy seas, confirmed the carrier.
This is the third such serious incident on the tradelane in less than two months, with the largest being the ONE Apus loss of more than 1,800 containers on November 30.
There seems little doubt that current practices for lashing and securing containers onboard large containerships are no longer fit for purpose, with an increase in the frequency and severity of bad weather, particularly on the Pacific. Experts have concluded that due to the risks associated with dynamic stability on container vessels, including parametric rolling, new containerships were likely to feature reduced onboard cargo volumes in comparison to existing ships.
Maersk has reported that all crewmembers are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing as the ship continues its voyage.
Mallory Alexander operations is working with Maersk to notify clients of the status of their containers on the ship.
Source: The Loadstar