Following the container loss of APL England, Australian authorities took actions to make sure that the owners and operators would take financial responsibility for the damages of the incident.
In fact, several days ago, containership’s master was charged penalties of more than $300.000, with two offences concerning the discharge of garbage into the sea and failing to ensure a vessel is operated so as not to cause pollution or damage to the Australian marine environment.
In light of the situation, Australian Maritime Safety Authority which has already detained APL England in the Port of Brisbane, is requesting financial security from the ship’s insurers in order to cover the estimated cost of the remediation and cleanup operations.
This action seeks financial security from the insurers in the order of $22 million. This provides a commitment that they will remediate all impacts of this incident. That $22 million covers estimated costs including that of a clean-up.
…AMSA General Manager Operations, Allan Schwartz noted.
At the same time, AMSA has placed an additional requirement on the vessel’s owner under the Protection of the Seas Act which must be met before the ship will be released from detention.
This and other incidents remind us of the important role the ship’s master has in ensuring the ships that ply our waters are operated safely and do not damage our marine environment.
….Allan Schwartz concluded.
