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ONE Apus Ready to Resume Service in Mid-March After Record Box Loss

recovery progress for ONE Apus
One Apus arriving in Japan - copyright W K Webster & Co Ltd.

Published Feb 19, 2021 1:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

Two months into the recovery efforts after possibly the worst container collapse in the history of the industry, ONE is reporting continued progress with the efforts to discharge containers from the ONE Apus. In its latest update to customers, the container network estimates that the vessel will be available to depart Kobe, Japan in mid-March.

A total of 859 boxes have been discharged from the ship as of February 17 ONE Reports. The operation to discharge, inspect and transload damaged containers was complicated by the precarious position of some of the boxes when the ship arrived in Japan. The company says the work is proceeding at a steady pace and recent pictures from Kobe appear to show that much of the deck has been cleared with only a small section of collapsed stacks remaining as well as the few bays that were not damaged during the accident.

 

 

After the vessel arrived in Kobe, claims consultant WK Webster estimated that 22 of the 28 bays on deck had collapsed based on their analysis of photos and drone footage Webster took as the vessel maneuvered to the dock in Kobe on December 8. “With 20 rows per bay and with stack heights of 6-8 tiers, this would equate to approximately 2,250 containers potentially impacted,” Webster reported to its clients. They noted however that the majority of the containers appeared to be 40 foot units (FEUs). As such, they estimated approximately 4,500 TEUs had been impacted.

The ONE Apus was on a scheduled voyage from Yantian, China to Long Beach, California when on November 30 it encountered heavy weather. At the time, the boxship was approximately 1,600 nautical miles off Hawaii. ONE later reported that 1,816 containers had been lost overboard, making it the largest loss from a vessel that itself was not lost. The ONE Apus has a total carrying capacity of 14,052 TEUs.

 

 

Webster had advised clients that, “The removal of containers is likely to be a time consuming and complicated operation,” and it has proven to be a slow process. The recovery effort began with just 232 boxes being discharged in the second half of December and another 400 during January. At that point, Webster predicted that it was likely to be “a few more weeks before discharge is completed and necessary repairs made to the vessel.” In the last two weeks, a further 220 boxes have been discharged. 

ONE is now advising customers that they will be notified regarding the cargo documentation that will need to be resubmitted. They also said that more detailed information regarding her schedule would be provided to customers when it is available.