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APL Vanda latest mega containership to run aground

NOL’s 14,000 teu containership APL Vanda has run aground at Bramble Bank, off Cowes, while headed to Southampton from France’s Le Havre port.

The vessel grounded Saturday night, believed to be intentionally, after it suffered from a loss of power. The location is the same that car carrier Hoegh Osaka ran aground last January.

It took eight tugs to free the vessel in the early hours of Sunday morning, and the vessel was safely towed to Southampton Port by afternoon.

There are no reports of pollution and the crew are all safe.

The incident comes less than two weeks after one of the world’s largest containerships, 18,890 teu CSCL Indian Ocean, run hard aground on the Elbe river as it headed towards the Eurogate terminal at the Port of Hamburg. The vessel was grounded for five days and raised questions as to whether authorities are able to cope with the issues created by today’s much larger containerships.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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