Cargo Ship Loses Over 1,800 Containers During Violent Storm

• Japanese cargo ship ONE (Ocean Network Expess) Apus recently lost 1,816 containers because of a storm.
• The vessel departed China and was bound to the United States.
• Included in the loss were containers that had “dangerous goods” such as fireworks, batteries, and liquid ethanol, among others.
• Investigations are currently ongoing and shipowners promise they will do their best to avoid such incidents from happening again in the future.

A cargo ship has lost more than 1,800 shipping containers at sea. And it all happened because of a bad storm.

According to recent reports, the ONE (Ocean Network Express) Apus cargo vessel was en route to Long Beach, California from Guangdong, China when the unfortunate incident occured. The Japanese-flagged ship eventually arrived in the port of Kobe, Japan last December 8 where a full safety inspection and clean-up will be done .

Apparently, the 1,194 ft ONE Apus vessel lost 1,816 of its cargo containers in the waters during an encounter with a violent storm while traversing the Pacific.

In a Daily Mail article, we read that “some 64 dangerous goods containers were lost, alongside 54 with fireworks, 8 with batteries and 2 with liquid ethanol.”

Meanwhile, the G Captain website tells us that the shipowners and managers said:

“The vessel’s operational equipment, cargo gear, and propulsion machinery are in good condition and the officers and ratings are highly motivated, experienced, loyal and well-trained seafarers.

“The root cause analysis and full investigation will look at all aspects of the situation, including the vessel’s routing, loading, equipment and fitness for purpose in very extreme weather. We must ensure no such loss occurs again.”

The incident is now being tagged as the second biggest cargo loss in modern shipping history, next to the 2013 disaster where the MOL Comfort vessel broke into two and sank deep into the Indian Ocean. An estimated 4,293 containers were lost that day.

Watch this video report by the South China Morning Post: