# Container Losses



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Earlier this week there were reports of about 2,000 being lost in the North Pacific (see Cargo ship loses 2,000 containers which toppled over during a storm). Now it seems that a further 200 have become flotsam in the North Sea (Up to 200 containers lost by mega container ship in North Sea).
Although such incidents make me glad to be ashore, I wonder if such losses are unavoidable and caused by extraordinary climatic conditions or the result of cost-saving designs and operating methods. Or are there other reasons?


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## pippin (May 13, 2008)

Ron, have a look at the MV RENA disaster off New Zealand. Human error or cost-cutting?

Looking at most container vessels aka shoe-boxes:

"Pile 'em high and flog 'em cheap" comes to mind.


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## John Cassels (Sep 29, 2005)

Got a lot to do with ; careless lashing checks ; racked containers on an outer.lower stow ; container stows 
outpacing lashing systems ; a whole mess of things so take your pick.


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

pippin said:


> Ron, have a look at the MV RENA disaster off New Zealand. Human error or cost-cutting?
> 
> Looking at most container vessels aka shoe-boxes:
> 
> "Pile 'em high and flog 'em cheap" comes to mind.


100% human error , they were having a party when the ship hit a well charted reef 

Bob


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## willincity (Jul 11, 2007)

spongebob said:


> 100% human error , *they were having a party when the ship hit a well charted reef*
> 
> Bob


Are you absolutely certain about this statement Bob?


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

Do the containers always sink ? We once sailed through an "island" of floating timber. Bit of a hazard for small vessels & yachts.


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

Container doors are designed to be weather tight. Some containers are fully sealed for special purposes but I gather that most have air breather vents around the top lip. 
Therefore, depending on the weight and mass of contents, how much air space there is, and whether it is sealed or not, a container would likely float, at varying depths, for varying times. It might be a hazard to shipping for weeks.


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## callpor (Jan 31, 2007)

In a similar thread on LinkedIn last week, I posted the following:-
"A big wake up signal? Back to the drawing board I suspect! Take a lesson from ACL who have not lost one container in 50 years of trans Atlantic operations with latest vessels having secure structures for all deck containers."
These immense container ships, stack all these containers 8 units high as deck cargo. That's a height of over 70 feet above the deck! These latest incidents clearly indicate that current lashing and securing arrangements are totally inadequate for vessels of this size. Remember, you are only hearing about the big events in the media, I can assure you that there are scores of lesser losses which don't get media attention, but do result in major isurance claims.


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## John Cassels (Sep 29, 2005)

callpor said:


> In a similar thread on LinkedIn last week, I posted the following:-
> "A big wake up signal? Back to the drawing board I suspect! Take a lesson from ACL who have not lost one container in 50 years of trans Atlantic operations with latest vessels having secure structures for all deck containers."
> These immense container ships, stack all these containers 8 units high as deck cargo. That's a height of over 70 feet above the deck! These latest incidents clearly indicate that current lashing and securing arrangements are totally inadequate for vessels of this size. Remember, you are only hearing about the big events in the media, I can assure you that there are scores of lesser losses which don't get media attention, but do result in major isurance claims.



See my comment #3.


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## MikeGDH (May 10, 2014)

John Cassels said:


> See my comment #3.











Ship loses record number of containers while crossing the Pacific - hit by waves 16 meters (52.5 feet) high -- Sott.net


Ship returned to Japan after encountering severe weather (wave heights of up to 16 meters, or 52.5 feet, the height of a five-story building). The ONE Apus suffered the incident after encountering severe weather on Monday, November 30, during its...




www.sott.net





Mike.


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## kewl dude (Jun 1, 2008)

Atlantic Star - ACL's G4 makes its debut


The first of five new fourth generation (G4) ships for Atlantic Container Line made its Halifax debut this morning. (The large letter G on t...




shipfax.blogspot.com





How ACL does not lose containers at sea:

IMG_0765 Atlantic Star-E.jpg
IMG_0774 Atlantic Star-E.jpg
IMG_0775 Atlantic Star-E.jpg

Seven more pictures of previous smaller similar vessels on the site


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## callpor (Jan 31, 2007)

A further snippet in the Loadstar logistics Newsletter today see ONE Apus stack collapse losses expected to top $200m - The Loadstar . Ouch!!


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## MikeGDH (May 10, 2014)

And more of the same here.....Mike.






Cargo ship loses 750 containers en route from China to Los Angeles ports - People's Daily Online


LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- AP Moller-Maersk, one of the world's biggest integrated container



en.people.cn


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## pippin (May 13, 2008)

From comments elsewhere it appears that the "Masters" of these vsls are just "Captains" under the command of the ship-owners.
The bigger the elephant - the bigger the balls(-up)!


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## Peter Hewson (Mar 12, 2019)

Not a new phenomenon . We where dodging containers floating in the North Sea Back in the 70`s. when I was on Ro-Ro`s. Not many I accept. I Used to often go up on the bridge around Dawn if I`d had an alarm Callout, and have a coffee with the Mate. One such occasion (lost suction alarm) was as result of the "Sharp" avoidance of a half sunken container.


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