The 299 meter long container ship MSC Flaminia arrived at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. After 57 days at sea, the fire-damaged container ship was escorted into the harbour by eight tugs and various government vessels. Reports state that salvagers will be removing the 2,876 containers on board including several hundred that were destroyed by the fire. The 680 tons of diesel fuel and 1240 tons of fuel oil will also be removed. Authorities will conduct an investigation and begin a search for the missing crewman.MSC Flaminia is safe. But other container ships are not.
September 11: MSC Flaminia is safely docked in Jade-Weser-Port, but the same can’t be said about all other container ships, either under way or docked. Right now there is another deep-ocean container ship on fire, German-owned, Japan-operated Amsterdam Bridge (see latest news http://www.odin.tc/news/read.asp?articleID=1310) – a replica of MSC Flaminia accident. This is not a coincidence, we don’t know the statistics, but taking all the known information together it may be said, that container ships are not safe altogether for the shippers (owners of cargoes on board), for the environment and for people living in coastal areas and big ports. The main risk originates from the containers loaded with flammable and explosive goods, stalked together with safe containers. What makes the situation especially dangerous and unpredictable, is widely spread practice of many irresponsible (criminal actually) shippers to manifest their dangerous goods as safe. I’ve been told by a stevedoring company operating in one of the biggest Russian ports, that in summer time finding damaged by explosion or fire containers on board of liner container ships is about as regular event, as a thunderstorm. In most cases the goods in such containers were manifested as safe in order to save some $200-300 (Two – Three Hundred) on a container. In most cases the explosions and fire are contained by the container in which the dangerous goods were loaded, at most damaging neighbouring containers. But from time to time explosions and fire in one container spark a major fire.
September 11: MSC Flaminia is safely docked in Jade-Weser-Port, but the same can’t be said about all other container ships, either under way or docked. Right now there is another deep-ocean container ship on fire, German-owned, Japan-operated Amsterdam Bridge (see latest news http://www.odin.tc/news/read.asp?articleID=1310) – a replica of MSC Flaminia accident. This is not a coincidence, we don’t know the statistics, but taking all the known information together it may be said, that container ships are not safe altogether for the shippers (owners of cargoes on board), for the environment and for people living in coastal areas and big ports. The main risk originates from the containers loaded with flammable and explosive goods, stalked together with safe containers. What makes the situation especially dangerous and unpredictable, is widely spread practice of many irresponsible (criminal actually) shippers to manifest their dangerous goods as safe. I’ve been told by a stevedoring company operating in one of the biggest Russian ports, that in summer time finding damaged by explosion or fire containers on board of liner container ships is about as regular event, as a thunderstorm. In most cases the goods in such containers were manifested as safe in order to save some $200-300 (Two – Three Hundred) on a container. In most cases the explosions and fire are contained by the container in which the dangerous goods were loaded, at most damaging neighbouring containers. But from time to time explosions and fire in one container spark a major fire.