Weight of extra containers and cargo placed massive amounts of stress on containerships

Namely, containership owners are placing more emphasis on the repair and maintenance of their hatch covers and container lashing equipment as the continuous full loading of their boxships due to the strong market conditions, impacts the condition of their ships.

With the current strong market conditions, shipowners cannot afford to incur any downtime of their vessels due to a lack of maintenance. And it is the same when it comes to vessel damage impacting on the vessel’s cargo carrying capacity. If you lose any capacity then vessel revenues are immediately hit

Mr. Peltenburg said.

He also added that “these vessels are currently running at maximum capacity and that will take its toll. A vessel that has not been trading at full capacity going into drydock every five years, will have these bits of equipment repaired as a matter of anticipated wear and tear.”

This heightened level of focus by owners on the maintenance of their vessels is not increasing pressure on suppliers, continued Mr. Peltenburg, because companies are well positioned to meet the demands of the market.

But we are receiving more requests for servicing of the hatch covers and lashing gear, whereas before, shipowners would focus less on the condition of the hatch covers or lashing gear or undertake essential repairs themselves

According to Allianz, the size of vessels may be contributing to a string of container stack collapses, and the growing numbers of containers damaged or lost at sea. Collapsing containers In March 2022, the container ship Dyros45 lost around 90 containers and saw another 100 damaged in rough weather in the North Pacific Ocean.

The incident was just the latest in what has become a worrying and expensive trend for insurers. Recent years have seen a number of container stack collapses at sea, resulting in losses overboard and damage to cargo on deck.