MOL Comfort Sister Ships Return to Service After Safety Enhancements Made

The investigation into the June 2013 MOL Comfort hull fracture have been completed. The results of the investigation will be shared with the Committee on Large Container Ship Safety.  

As a result of the hull fracture, MOL undertook preventative measures to insure the safety of six sister vessels after the incident.  The reinforcement of the hulls of MOL Celebration (pictured above), MOL Courage, and MOL Creation have been completed, and these vessels have returned to their normal Asia-North Europe routes.

The reinforcements of the container ships were strengthened to almost twice the requirement by ClassNK, which conforms to the safety standards of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). Lloyds Register, which MOL appointed as technical consultant, believes that the structural reinforcement is currently the best preventative measure against similar failure in the future.

The three remaining sister vessels, including the MOL Charisma and MOL Competence, are currently a the dockyards of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.  Their hull reinforcements are expected to be completed by the end of October.  MOL Commitment, just delivered to Mistui O.S.K. in June, will also be reinforced, and can be expected to return to service in the early part of 2014.