Marine Incident Alert - Maersk Essen

The vessel Maersk ESSEN, sailing under the flag of Denmark, is reported to have suffered a loss of 750 containers overboard, with many more damaged remaining on board following a container stack collapse onboard the vessel on the 16th January. 

Details of the incident have not yet been reported but tracking of the vessel on 16^th January indicates that the vessel was in the Pacific Ocean about 430 nautical miles NNE of Honolulu at the time.

The Maersk ESSEN has a capacity of 13,200 teu (twenty foot equivalent containers) and with the loss of 750 containers, will be considered a significant loss of containers. To date, there is no indication of the cause of this casualty. 

The Maersk ESSEN had departed Xiamen, China on December 26 and was due to arrive off Los Angeles on January 22. This vessel operates on Maersk’s TP6 Asia/US West Coast route and as such would have made calls in Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Yantian, China before arriving in Xiamen

The vessel is understood to be continuing the voyage to Los Angeles where it is scheduled to arrive possibly as early as 22nd January. In addition to recovery issues arising in respect of lost and/or damaged cargo, the schedule for the MAERSK ESSEN beyond Los Angeles seems almost certain to be delayed, which may therefore also adversely affect any time sensitive or refrigerated cargoes on board.

Once it’s declared safe, surveyors from the various stakeholders will make their initial assessments whilst stowage planners and stevedores formulate and implement a plan to ensure the safe removal of the remaining units. Then a thorough evaluation will be made on the exact number and type of containers that have been lost or damaged and damage to the vessel. 

There has been no indication when customers could learn the status of their freight –whether that be lost at sea, damaged during transit or in deliverable condition.

NTI have made arrangements for surveyors to be on standby in order to investigate the cause of the incident and to attend to any cargo surveys as may be necessary or possible. Further surveys may need to be undertaken to affected units at final ports of destination in due course as well. If any of your clients or their cargo is known to be onboard the vessel, please let us know as soon as possible so that our surveyors can be on the lookout for the cargo as it is taken from the ship or determined to be lost overboard.