Emma Maersk: after immediate repairs, the onward journey begins



Immediate repairs to the Emma Maersk are being completed according to schedule. Weather permitting, Emma will be towed to a repair facility on Sunday, 17 February 2013, at around 6am Egyptian time. The full extent of damage to the engines will then be assessed and the work of restoring her back to full health will begin. 
Palle Laursen, Maersk Line’s Head of Ship Management in Copenhagen, says, “We are delighted that Emma is on the route back towards full service. However, this only the beginning of a long journey – once she gets to the repair facility it will still be several months before repairs are completed.” 
He adds: “The efforts of the crew, the local Maersk Line, SCCT, and Svitzer organisations and the underwater repair teams should be fully recognised in enabling this. We also appreciate the full support of the Suez Canal Authority in making this happen so quickly.” 
Background: 
On 1 February 2013, Emma Maersk, currently Maersk Line’s largest container vessel, experienced an ingress of water into the engine room. She had just commenced her southbound transit through the Suez Canal en route to Asia. The captain decided to terminate the planned voyage and go alongside the nearby Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT). Whilst the exact cause of the incident is still being investigated, it has been confirmed that the water came in through a breach in the stern thruster tunnel. 
According to Captain Marius Gardastovu, there was never any real danger or panic at any point. “Of course it is a shocking experience when you look back and consider what could have happened,” he says. “But given the circumstances, everything was handled as well as possible because of a close-knit crew who knew exactly what to do.” 
She was loaded with containers equivalent to 13,537 TEU of which 6,425 were full. 
Alternate routings 
Alternative arrangements for the cargo have been made whereby sensitive cargo was loaded onto Maersk Line’s existing network shortly after the incident. Further contingencies and schedules have been finalised as part of the cargo was loaded on Maersk Kotka (16B/1301) on 11 Feb, some of the cargo were loaded on CC Medea (3FO/933E) on 12 Feb, and the remaining eastbound cargo will be loaded onto Maersk Kokura (98A/1305) on 18 Feb. 
The developments are being monitored continuously to ensure minimal impact to customers. Maersk Line’s operations teams are working in close coordination with the local customer and sales representatives to keep customers updated on the developments. 
Maersk Line is able to reorganise its fleet without chartering replacement tonnage. The 9,660 TEU 48Y-Butterfly will replace Emma Maersk on the AE10 Asia-Europe service until she is ready to re-enter service. 
The Emma Maersk is an advanced container ship and amongst the very largest in her class. She was launched at the end of 2006 and sails on a regular route between the Far East and Europe through the Suez Canal. 
She sails approximately 170,000 nautical miles a year, corresponding to 7½ times around the world.
Source: Maersk Line


On Sunday the unlucky container ship Emma Maersk left the port of Port Said, where it has remained since it 17 days ago was hit by heavy flooding in the engine room Emma Maersk is not able to navigate under its own power and was helped out of the harbor by a handful of tugs.
Subsequently, the large container ship was towed, bound for a not yet informed European port, where it will be repaired. An operation is expected to last several months.


Giant containership Emma Maersk is heading to Fincantieri’s repair yard in Palermo, Sicily, for repairs after a crack in a stern thruster flooded its engine room.

The company has opted to use a yard rather than attempt the repairs in a terminal berth as it will need to discharge up to 13,000cu metres of contaminated seawater that is flooding the engine room.

Using a repair yard will also provide a specialist workforce for what will become a major job.

The 2006-built, 15,500teu vessel is being towed from Suez Canal Container Terminal where it berthed following an accident that occurred as it prepared to enter the canal southbound two weeks ago.

AP Møller Maersk-owned Svitzer has contracted the tug Fairmount Alpine to tow the vessel.

Maersk Line’s head of ship management, Palle Laursen, confirmed that the vessel would arrive in Palermo next week and would remain alongside for about three and a half months, although the length of the repair work will be determined by what is discovered once the seawater is removed from the engine room.

Maersk decided to keep the engine room flooded to prevent excessive corrosion of sensitive machinery and electronics.

Laursen said it was too difficult to estimate the cost of the repair work until the extent of the damage was clear. It will take about a month to pump the water slowly from the engine room.

Although the extent of the damage remained unknown, he said it was unthinkable that the vessel could not be fully repaired, adding that where parts of the huge main engine could not be replaced, they could be reconditioned.

When the water is removed, a full inspection will be made of the stern thruster area where the flooding occurred. Surveyors from the vessel’s classification society, Houston-based ABS, and thruster manufacturer Rolls-Royce will examine the damage and make recommendations.

Laursen said it was too early to say whether any work would need to be carried out to prevent such an accident occurring again on Emma Maersk or the seven other vessels in its class that have now been told not to use their stern thrusters.

Additional work is likely to be carried out on the outside of the thruster to strengthen the current temporary repairs, blanking off the thruster until the vessel’s next scheduled drydock in about four years’ time. It is not a class requirement for vessels to have thrusters.

Laursen believes that had Emma Maersk been due to dry-dock next year, the decision might have been made to send the vessel for full repairs, bringing the docking schedule forward.

Emma Maersk had 13,537teu on board at the time of the incident, of which 6,425 were full. The containers were offloaded at SCCT and Maersk Line said it has reorganised its fleet without chartering replacement tonnage.

The 9,660teu 48Y-Butterfly will replace Emma Maersk on the Asia-Europe service until it is ready to re-enter service



Comments