The owners and managers of the ONE APUS informed that the extent of the lost and damaged containers could exceed 1,900 boxes with possibly 40 transporting dangerous goods. Fully loaded the Apus has a capacity of 14,000 TEU.
To remind, on the 1st December 2020, the Japanese flagged containership, ‘ONE APUS’, manager ‘NYK Shipmanagement’ – lost a number of containers as a result of severe weather conditions on the night of Monday 30th November 2020 at 2315LT approximately 1600NM North West of Hawaii, USA.
Early investigations onboard the ONE Apus have determined that the impacted container bays remain unsafe for close-quarter inspections; however, it is estimated that the number of lost or damaged units could exceed 1,900, of which some 40 are believed to be DG containers.
ONE APUS stated that theirfocus remains on getting the ship to a safe port to ensure the ongoing safety of the crew, the vessel and the cargo on board. A full investigation will be conducted into this incident in conjunction with the Flag State and the relevant maritime authorities.
A loss or damage of nearly 2,000 containers would rank among the largest incidents the industry has experienced without the loss of a vessel.
The World Shipping Council in its 2020 report on containers lost at sea said the yearly total was declining. In the most recent three-year period, they reported the average was 779 containers lost down by nearly half from the average of 1,390 lost in the three prior years. Among the most significant incidents was 4,293 containers in 2013 when the MOL Comfort was lost and approximately 900 containers in 2011 when the Rena grounded.
