The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) yesterday announced that it had launched an investigation into the loss of 13 cargo containers from an MSC vessel off the coast of Durban.
The MSC Chloe was sailing from Ngqura port to Durban last week when the containers fell off the ship. Samsa has issued an alert to all vessels sailing on the Indian Ocean east of South Africa to be on the lookout for them.
“Reportedly the vessel was drifting and awaiting berthing instructions when a huge swell struck and caused the vessel to roll about 30 degrees on either side, leading to the containers falling off their stacked position,” a Samsa statement read.
The containers lost overboard have been identified as 11 40 foot high cube containers, one 40 foot open top container, and one 40 foot container holding citrus fruit. An additional 25 containers sustained damage on board the vessel.
“MSC has confirmed the contents of the containers as general cargo ranging from cardboard boxes, plastic bottles to machinery shafts and agricultural supplies,” said a Samsa spokesperson. “No lost container contained any dangerous cargo or marine pollutants.”
The authority noted that it had verified that all dangerous goods carried by the vessel were on board in their respective positions as per the stowage plan.
Samsa media and communications specialist, Tebogo Ramatjie, told FTW Online that there had been no new updates to the investigation. He said the safety authority had still not found any of the containers and the search was ongoing.
“We are currently also monitoring the repair process of the MSC vessel involved in the incident as we are required to certify its seaworthiness before it is able to continue on its journey,” he said.
