Evergreen Ship Loses Boxes Closing Callao Port for Hours

containers overboard — Debris in the bay outside Callao, Peru after the box loss from the anchored containership

The Port Authority in Callao, Peru, confirmed that port operations resumed Friday afternoon, August 1, several hours after they were forced to suspend all operations after an Evergreen ship lost boxes overboard while in the bay. The port was closed as a precaution due to heavy fog, which was limiting the ability to see the containers.

The Taiwan-flagged containership Ever Lunar (103,891 dwt) was inbound from Buenaventura, Colombia, and reportedly was waiting in the bay for its terminal on Friday morning. The ship, which was built in 2015, is reported to have a capacity of 8,500 TEU and was carrying approximately 7,000 containers. It was sitting outside the main shipping channel at anchor.

Evergreen Marine, in a statement, said that the ship “suddenly experienced severe rolling.” Peru had been on alert for a possible impact from the Russian earthquake and predicted tsunami. The company said the motion of the vessel may have been caused by a number of factors, including the recent tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America, and the sudden swelling of waves.

The incident happened around 9:40 a.m. local time, and according to the port authority, approximately 50 containers fell overboard. There were no injuries to the crew. They said there was no indication that there was any hazardous cargo in the containers, which could be seen floating around the bay. Pictures in the media showed plastics and electronics in the containers.

The port authority suspended all traffic in the port while a patrol boat and tugs began flagging the locations of the containers. The ban included not only all commercial traffic but also fueling, diving, fishing, and recreational activities. The ban was lifted around 4:00 p.m. local time.

The port authority said that tugs hired by Evergreen’s insurers would begin the task of retrieving the containers. They said they would be looking into the possibility that the lashing system had broken.

Debris floating in the harbor (Congresswoman Patty Chirinos on X)

It is the second incident in days during the South American winter, with weather also being cited as the cause of a stack collapse on the Ever Feat (12,000 TEU) on July 29. The vessel arrived at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, with the collapse happening during a trip from Brazil.

Last year, the South African winter weather took a similar toll on containers. At least four vessels reported losing boxes or stack collapses while rounding the Cape of Good Hope. However, overall, the World Shipping Council reports that container losses continue to decline and have reached a low in recent years.