Vessel towed to Port of Brisbane after container loss

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is investigating how 40 containers fell overboard from the APL England in the early hours of 24 May 2020.

According to a statement, AMSA surveyors conducted an inspection of the vessel at the Port of Brisbane to establish its “structural and operational condition”.

It was found to be fit and escorted by two harbour tugs, one container salvage response vessel and a pollution response vessel.

The investigation, AMSA said, will be conducted on two fronts. The first will be to see if the vessel complied with Australian and international safety standards. The results of this will be available in “a matter of days”, according to AMSA.

The second part of AMSA’s investigation will to see of the vessel breached Australia’s environmental protection regulations or standards that specifically apply to the safe carriage of cargo.

The first phase of that investigation is expected to take at least a month and may take longer.

Subject to the outcome, legal action could be taken by AMSA against various parties including the ship’s owner and others.

In January 2020 the UK government released a report into the CMA CGM Washington, which lost 137 containers when three container bays collapsed in January 2018.

https://www.porttechnology.org/news/vessel-towed-to-port-of-brisbane-after-container-loss/