Cargo ship loses containers at sea

[calNgary]

When is an accident an accident and not an accident waiting to happen?

Surely this load should have been secured better. News articles are also saying its quite common for a ship to lose a container or two, although i have no idea how true that is.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/ship-loses-containers-in-rough-seas-off-australia-east-coast/12290506

   

[Toots]

I saw that.  The stacks of containers certainly didn't look secure at all.

[calNgary]

This just looked to be stacked so high.. Apparently its the second time this ship has been involved in an incident too.

 Cal x

[Guest The Pom Queen]

You would have thought the containers would have been sealed so that even if they broke away the doors would have remained closed. They are saying medical supplies are being washed up on shores, let’s hope it’s just face masks and no medication making its way on to the beaches for children to get hold of. 
 

 

[unzippy]

LEGO washing up in Cornwall still, since 2014 -  https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28367198

 

As an aside, once the containers are loose in the high seas, they are a menace.  From a shipping point of view, you are lucky if they sink.  Otherwise they float just under the surface - https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/sydneyhobart-fleet-facing-new-threat-from-floating-containers/news-story/e1182dbb767c0cd281d0ab6631a68eaa

 

But if they do sink -https://www.livescience.com/45657-shipping-containers-lost-at-sea.html

[Wanderer Returns]

After reading this article (and seeing it on TV) I was concerned, and contact my UK shipping agent to ask them if they'd ever lost a container at sea. They said they never had, and seemed a little surprised that I'd asked. I believe this ship had come directly from China. Maybe there are different safety criteria depending on where the ships depart from.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Wanderer Returns said:

After reading this article (and seeing it on TV) I was concerned, and contact my UK shipping agent to ask them if they'd ever lost a container at sea. They said they never had, and seemed a little surprised that I'd asked. I believe this ship had come directly from China. Maybe there are different safety criteria depending on where the ships depart from.

I knew someone who shipped stuff from their deceased mother's house, including her grand piano, and the container went overboard.  They're relying on the weight of the containers to keep them in place and most of the time, that's enough.  It's only when they hit unusually bad weather that it's a problem.  Bottom line - make sure you're properly insured, preferably with a third party insurer not the removalist. And don't send anything in a container that you'd be devastated to lose.

[Wanderer Returns]

On 07/06/2020 at 14:25, Marisawright said:

Bottom line - make sure you're properly insured, preferably with a third party insurer not the removalist. And don't send anything in a container that you'd be devastated to lose.

Marisa, that's good advice. I didn't realize they were only secured by weight. But if you're emigrating then you don't really have much choice, do you? - everything has to go in the container.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Marisa, that's good advice. I didn't realize they were only secured by weight. But if you're emigrating then you don't really have much choice, do you? - everything has to go in the container.

That's true, but it can help you decide what you'll trust to the container and what you'll carry with you in your luggage.  For instance, you might decide to put some of your clothing in the container so you've got room for some treasured jewelry or whatever. 

I lost a few valuables (not treasured, just expensive) when we moved to Africa for a contract.   They had switched containers at some point (which is another thing they don't tell you about!) and I suspect someone took the opportunity to nick the good stuff. 

[Wanderer Returns]

21 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I lost a few valuables (not treasured, just expensive) when we moved to Africa for a contract.   They had switched containers at some point (which is another thing they don't tell you about!) and I suspect someone took the opportunity to nick the good stuff. 

Sorry to hear that, Marisa. We have booked an entire 20ft container, and I believe PSS said that it would be sealed in the UK and not reopened until it got to Australia, so I'll look into that further as I'm just emailing them now about another matter - thanks again!

[ramot]

Friends of ours had a large part of their belongings ruined by water leaking into their container.

[CaptainR]

It is very unusual for containers to fall overboard from a ship and generally the securings are designed to handle the expected conditions that a container ship may encounter. That said, there is a limit to the excessive rolling that they can handle. The ship I believe lost power which mean't that it may have spent some time parallel to the swell (broadside on/beam on) which is not ideal in those conditions. Only last year we had another ship lose some containers and only a few weeks ago a special ship with remote operated vehicles (unmanned submarines) and various other equipment recovered them. 

 Some of the containers are floating just below the surface in the very busy shipping lanes off the Central Coast, not ideal.