A.P. Møller – Maersk has confirmed 260 containers were lost overboard and an additional 65 damaged on the deck of the Eindhoven on Wednesday.
“As previously reported, the Maersk Eindhoven experienced a loss of engine propulsion for three to four minutes while sailing 45 nautical miles off northern Japan in heavy seas,” a spokesman said Friday. “The loss of maneuverability resulted in severe rolling with 260 containers overboard and 65 containers damaged on deck.
“Customers were advised immediately of vessel and cargo status,” he said.
The general public has not been informed on what was inside the lost or damaged containers. But Henry Byers, FreightWaves’ maritime market analyst, believes that IKEA, Amazon, Adidas, Williams-Sonoma, Grainger, Wolverine World Wide, Puma and Hasbro likely all had cargo aboard the Maersk Eindhoven, which was sailing from Xiamen, China, to the Port of Los Angeles when the incident occurred.
The Eindhoven sails on the TP6 Asia-U.S. service, the same one in which the Maersk Essen operates. The Maersk Essen lost 750 containers Jan. 16 while it too was en route to Los Angeles.
The 1,010 containers lost from the two Maersk vessels already this year account for less than a third of the approximately 2,935 twenty-foot equivalent units that have gone overboard at sea since just Nov. 30, when the ONE Apus lost 1,816 TEUs while en route from Yantian, China, to the Port of Long Beach.
Maersk said Friday that the Eindhoven’s propulsion power was quickly restored and an “initial analysis indicates engine oil pressure triggered a safety feature, causing the engines to shut down. No malfunction or maintenance issues have been identified.”
The spokesman did not say if anyone was injured when the Maersk Eindhoven suddenly lost power, only sharing that “the crew is safe and a complete investigation is ongoing.”
As of 1 p.m. EST Friday, the 13,100-TEU Eindhoven was “sailing in calm seas, returning to a North Asia port for inspection and repair. The port decision will be announced shortly,” the Maersk spokesman said in an email to American Shipper.
“Preliminary reports show slight damage with minimal repairs required to the vessel” when it arrives at the chosen port, he said.
Another Maersk ship sailing for LA loses containers
Ocean container losses topple annual average in 2 months
Maersk Essen loses 750 containers, sails for Mexico
Click for more American Shipper/FreightWaves stories by Senior Editor Kim Link-Wills
