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Removal of containers from ONE Apus could extend well into January 2021

By Insurance Marine News, 14th December 2020 | Print version

The removal of the dislodged and damaged containers from ultra-large container ship ONE Apus (IMO 9806079) began late last week, but was expected to take more than a month.


Chidori Ship Holding LLC as owners and NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd as managers said in an update on Saturday December 12th that removal began after permission to proceed was granted by the Japanese Coast Guard.


The ONE Apus is a 14,000 teu vessel measuring 364 metres in length.


The ship has been berthed in the Port of Kobe, Japan, since December 8th, after losing 1,816 containers overboard when it encountered severe weather on Monday November 30th while en route from China to Long Beach, California, USA, forcing it to turn around.


The companies said that "the careful removal of the dislodged units under a schedule formulated by stowage planners is expected to take over a month".


Each container will be assessed once unloaded. When the discharge of cargo is complete there will be a full assessment of damage to the vessel and required subsequent repairs.


An investigation in conjunction with the vessel's flag state, Japan, and the relevant maritime authorities, is being conducted into the incident.


The event looks likely to be one of the worst container cargo losses since the MOL Comfort sank in the Indian Ocean in 2013.


Among the containers lost were 64 Dangerous Goods containers, including 54 with fireworks, eight containing batteries and two with liquid ethanol.
UK-based marine claims consultancy WK Webster, which has a team of surveyors at Kobe and has undertaken an initial inspection using drones, said that thousands of containers looked to have been damaged, according to early indications, with total losses now expected to reach $200m or more. It said that it was still waiting for the carrier to release the vessel’s container stow bay plans.


As has been noted, general average in this instance is likely to bring once again to the fore whether the concept is fit for purpose in the modern age. The issues will span several jurisdictions, including Singapore, the US and Japan. The contracts signed between the owners of containers and that various ocean carriers and freight forwarders will have different conditions attached, with the choice of jurisdiction in the case of dispute only one of many significant factors.


2019-built, Japan-flagged, 146,694 gt One Apus is owned by Chidori Ship Holding LLC care of manager NYK Line of Tokyo, Japan. ISM manager is NYK Shipmanagement Pte Ltd of Singapore. It is entered with Japan Club (Singapore Office in Charge) on behalf of Chidori Shipholding LLC.
 

 

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