The 13,100 TEU Maersk Essen, which lost approximately 750 containers during a storm in the Pacific Ocean on January 16, finally arrived south of the Mexican coast, deviating from its initial destination in Los Angeles on January 26, just 10 days after the incident.
The crew of this titan of navigation decided to leave the congested port of Los Angeles-California – USA and head for the port of Lazaro Cardenas – Mexico, due to the loss of part of the containerized cargo that was destined for the port of Los Angeles, causing a delay in the delivery of the same.
Maersk announced that it will take two to three weeks to repair the vessel and reposition all undamaged containers.
“All is going well, the intention remains for the Maersk Essen to call at Los Angeles to deliver the undamaged cargo. At this time we do not anticipate the need to divert cargo from Lazaro Cardenas by land (rail) or alternative ship, but we cannot rule out any options until the contingency plan is finalized,” said a spokesman for the Danish liner.
Claims consultancy WK Webster has noted that some containers will no longer be suitable for transport and will have to be offloaded or destined for local use.
The Maersk Essen incident is one of four since November 30. Where hundreds of containers fell into the North Pacific Ocean.
