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Hapag-Lloyd diverts vessel to Mexico after COVID outbreak

3 crew members hospitalized, 2 quarantined

A Hapag-Lloyd container vessel made an emergency stop in Mexico to evacuate sick crew members. Pictured , the Chicago Express departs the Port of Miami. (Photo: Shutterstock/EQRoy)

Container line Hapag-Lloyd said Monday that one of its vessels diverted to Ensenada, Mexico, to evacuate three crew members with COVID-19 to a hospital.

The German carrier said the MV Rome Express, a container ship with the capacity to carry 12,552 twenty-foot equivalent units that operates on its Transpacific East Coast loop, made an unexpected port call in Ensenada after five crew members contracted the virus.

The remaining two crew members are in quarantine on the ship, Hapag-Lloyd said. 

Hapag-Lloyd notified customers that their cargo could be delayed. It said the vessel would remain at port until alternate crew were tested and cleared to board. 


The MV Rome was en route to Busan, South Korea, via the Panama Canal after departing Cartagena, Colombia, when the decision was made to make an emergency stop in Mexico. The weekly westbound service calls at the ports of New York-New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia, before heading to Cartagena. 

The MV Rome is now underway again in the Pacific Ocean, according to location tracking service Marine Traffic.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.


Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com