Maersk Saigon Runs Aground in Santos

The container ship Maersk Saigon ran aground at the port of Santos, Brazil, on Monday afternoon. She reportedly exited the channel near buoy 2A and grounded 30 meters beyond the fairway's edge. She was refloated with the assistance of one tug and taken to anchorage to await inspection.

Maersk confirmed the incident and told media that she “was grounded during her departure manoeuvre at the BTP Terminal in Santos, Brazil. The vessel’s crew is safe and no one was injured.”

AIS data show her 11 nm off the port of Santos as of Wednesday.

No pollution or injuries were reported, and local authorities have started an investigation into the cause of the accident.

If no hull damage is found, she is expected to continue on to Port Elizabeth, South African, the next stop on her ASAS route from South America to Africa and then East Asia. Maersk remains hopeful she can make up lost time on her Atlantic crossing.

The Liberian-flagged, 9,000 TEU Saigon is owned and managed by E.R. Schiffahrt of Germany and operated by Maersk.

Maersk is the world's largest container ship operator by TEU and vessel count, with nearly six hundred ships owned or chartered. The Saigon is the company's third grounding in 2015 to date, following the Susan Maersk in April and the Maersk Garonne in February; data from IHS-Fairplay's World Casualty Statistics suggest an average of about 20 serious grounding incidents per year worldwide.