An MSC Containership lost containers in the waters near Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which according to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) the loss was creating a hazard to navigation into the port area.
Specifically, SAMSA reports that the 9411 TEU containership MSC Palak sailed out Port of Ngqura, near the city of Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape at noon on July 13, due to a storm with high winds in the area. The vessel anchored in the Algoa Bay region to ride out the weather which was causing swells running up to 3.5 meters in height.
While it was on anchorage in the bay, the vessel informed local authorities that around midnight that it had lost a number of containers overboard in the storm. Yet, they reported that no dangerous cargo was lost overboard.
Following, SAMSA issued a statement according to which
An initial assessment was that six containers had fallen overboard and that they had sunk, however, at first light on the 15th, the vessel confirmed that 23 containers were lost overboard. A fishing vessel reported at 8:00 am on July 15, that they found containers drifting approximately seven nautical miles south of where the containers were lost.
After the incident, the Port of Ngqura was closed for vessel traffic because of the risk that some containers might be in the water in the approach channel, and endanger the navigation.
