MSC Settles Out of Court Over 2024 Runaway Ship Incident in Charleston
A filing with the U.S. District Court in South Carolina last week confirmed a settlement has been reached in a suit pending related to the 2024 incident in which an MSC containership lost control and sped out of Charleston harbor. A North Charleston company, Carver Maritime, filed suit alleging the negligence of the ship caused significant damage to the company’s facility on the Cooper River.
Carver Maritime operates a bulk and breakbulk cargo terminal along the river. According to the court filing in 2024, they cited the uncontrolled departure of the MSC vessel MSC Michigan III as causing significant damage to the pier and property. They alleged the containership sped past the terminal at a speed of over 15 knots, far exceeding a safe speed for that section of the river.
In addition to the wash as the 80,000 dwt containership sped along the river, Carver reported water levels had dropped significantly at its pier. Another vessel, Norwegian Peak, a 45,400 dwt bulker, was sucked away from the pier where it was undergoing cargo operations. Carver said the vessel was pulled away from the pier until its mooring lines became extremely taut, and then forced back into the pier, causing significant damage.
The company asked the court to arrest the vessel, which it agreed with, appointing a custodian. The ship was permitted to leave after about 45 days, and then only with a USCG escort and tugs to ensure it did not make a second wild ride through Charleston’s harbor.
According to an earlier court filing, MSC’s lawyers were contending negligence, asserting that the lines of the Norwegian Pearl were not properly maintained. They said images showed the lines were slack, due “apparently due to her crew’s inattention,” creating a dangerous situation when their ship or others were maneuvering in the river.
The MSC Michigan III’s chief engineer entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office in September 2025. As part of the stipulation in the case, it described multiple maintenance problems on the vessel. Among the issues that were cited was a report that the crew was manually adjusting the length of the linkage rod between the governor and the fuel rack to achieve the desired RPMs with the main engine. They assert the defendant knew the manual adjustments were hazardous because they could cause the linkage rod to fail.
As the ship was departing Charleston on June 5, 2024, the engineers discovered that the linkage rod had disconnected from the governor. The engineers attempted several times to reconnect the linkage rod. While a fitter was working to repair the rod, the ship became a runaway, unable to slow the main engine, and it traveled at more than twice the regulated speed through the harbor. Officials closed the main roadway bridge crossing the harbor, and the ship was finally able to regain control as it reached the outer harbor.
It was alleged that the wild ride caused more than $500,000 of damage along the shoreline. In addition to Carver’s facility, there were pictures of private boats being rocked along the river and a wash on the shoreline. Luckily, the crew was able to steer the containership so that it did not strike anything during the run through Charleston harbor.
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The filing did not report the terms of the settlement to the court. It had previously been reported to the court that the shipping company and its insurance companies were working with the insurers for the Norwegian Pearl and Carver to reach a settlement.
The chief engineer was facing up to five years and a $250,000 fine on one count and an additional six years and a further $250,000 on a second count. His sentencing has been postponed and is now scheduled for June 2026.