Super typhoon lays waste to Kaohsiung box terminal
Super Typhoon Meranti, the strongest storm on record anywhere in the world so far this year, wreaked havoc and chaos as it transited near Taiwan’s main port of Kaohsiung yesterday.
A 14,000 teu newbuild, unfortunately named YM Wind, broke from its mooring lines at local yard CSBC and drifted to Kaohsiung’s sixth container terminal where it rammed and destroyed two quay crane. “Container terminals look like they were shelled by a battleship,” vessel tracking service FleetMon described.
The giant ship, ordered by Canada’s Seaspan, was due to deliver to Yang Ming on a 10-year time charter next year. The ship will now deliver later than planned, adding to further headaches to the Canadian tonnage provider which is also grappling with the court receivership of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping to whom it has three vessels on charter.
Cargo operations at Kaohsiung have been severely impacted and contingency planning is underway by local port officials who believe container terminal six could be out of action for weeks. Significant insurance payouts will follow.
Insurance sources are already intimating that claims from this storm could be the largest since Typhoon Maemi ripped through Busan port in South Korea 13 years ago.
The storm, which had winds in excess of 230 kmh at its peak, has made landfall on mainland China around Xiamen today and has since been downgraded as it starts to peter out.
Many containers were also damaged at the port of Kaohsiung during the ferocious winds as the video below shows.
Insurance sources are already intimating that claims from this storm could be the largest since Typhoon Maemi ripped through Busan port in South Korea 13 years ago.
The awesome power of Super #TyphoonMeranti #Kaohsiung. Containers tossed about like playing cards #Taiwan #Meranti pic.twitter.com/ScfpY5NxGt
— David Spencer (@dspencer47) September 14, 2016
