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Maersk provides details on latest box spill incident

Maersk has provided further details of a box spill that occurred on a chartered-in boxship in the North Pacific on Monday.

Some 90 containers fell off the 4,506 teu Dyros, on charter from Costamare when it hit stormy conditions to the south of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula. Nine of the boxes that fell overboard are labelled as dangerous cargo, containing lithium-ion batteries. A further 100 boxes approximately were damaged, while the vessel’s deck will need repairs. No crew were injured during the box spill incident.

The ship has changed destinations and rather than arriving at Seattle on Sunday as originally planned, it will head for Port of Lazaro Cardenas, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, scheduled to arrive on April 3. A similar box spill incident on another Maersk ship last year saw the Danish company opt to head to the same Mexican port, where sister firm APM Terminals has a concession.

The North Pacific has been the scene of many box spills over the past couple of years, resulting in insurance claims to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

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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