AsiaOperations

Ill-fated Moresby 9 smashes into Thai bridge

Singapore: Some ships are born unlucky. Few more so in recent years than the Moresby 9 (1977-built; 2,408 dwt), a product tanker owned by Canter Singapore. The Honduras-flagged ship was the victim of piracy attacks both in 2013 and 2014, while its latest misfortune occurred this week in Thailand.

The vessel’s engine lost power south of Phuket in Thailand while it was heading upriver for repairs on Wednesday. A mixture of strong winds and currents took the ship, before the anchor could be deployed, and slammed it into a bridge causing severe damage to the bridge spanning the Trang river as well as leading to the grounding of vessel.

As of Friday morning the bridge remains closed forcing many people to use a nearby ferry or an alternate bridge 5 km downstream to cross the river, while the ship remains grounded.

Authorities are assessing the scale of damages with a hefty bill likely to land in the lap of the shipowner’s P&I Club soon.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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