A Maersk Line containership that suffered a flooded engine room in the Suez Canal on Friday could be out of action for months.
The Danish shipping giant has also ordered all seven other E-class ships not use their stern thrusters until investigators discover what caused the incident.
Reports say the engine room of the 15,500-teu Emma Maersk (built 2006) has been left under eighteen metres of water.
Maersk Line’s Head of Ship Management, Palle Laursen, said the investigation into the incident was still ongoing, and that repairs will take time.
“Initial inspections by divers show that the water ingress was caused by damage to one of the stern thrusters,” says Laursen.
“It is now known that several propeller blades have broken off and there is severe damage to the propeller mounting, resulting in a crack in the forward stern thruster tunnel which caused the ingress of water.”
While it is still unclear what caused the damage, Palle rules out any human error by the crew. “The crew handled the situation very well and did exactly what they should at all stages,” he said.
“The E-class has been sailing well since 2006, and the thrusters are used at every port call,” Palle adds, stressing that for now it is seen as an isolated incident.
“Until we know the exact reason, we have as a precautionary measure instructed the other vessels in the E-class fleet not to use their stern thrusters.”
Maersk Line was keen to point out that at no point was the ABS-classed Emma Maersk in danger of sinking.
“Naval architects have confirmed that a fully loaded E-class vessel can sustain full flooding of the engine room and still stay afloat,” it said.
“Large container vessels have a natural better stability than smaller vessels. Had the incident occurred at sea, it would have been a matter of getting an oceangoing tugboat in place to assist.”
Palle says making the Emma Maersk seaworthy again is a complicated process, and admits it is probably a matter of months before she can enter service again.
“The first priority is to preserve the equipment, which ironically means keeping it submerged for the time being,” he says.
“Due to its exposure to salt water, any contact with oxygen will result in corrosion. So the plan is to have underwater welders plug the hole before lifting the vessel further, after which the remaining cargo onboard will be unloaded, water will be pumped out, and the equipment will be washed with fresh water, dismantled and retrofitted.”
Palle says several uncertainties remain including whether a full dry-dock operation is needed for the 397 metre long ship.
Even if it can be done while the vessel is waterborne, Palle says there is the question of location: is Suez suitable for the operation, or will it be necessary to tow the vessel to another location.
“These and other questions will be determined during the coming days and weeks. Cargo operations and customer relations continue according to plan to minimise the disruption as much as possible.”
MAERSK Line has ordered the largest ships in its fleet to stop using their stern thrusters until investigators discover what caused a flood that left Emma Maersk’s engineroom under 18 m of water in an incident near the Suez Canal this weekend.
Divers have spotted where water gushed into the containership, leaving it adrift in the entrance to the canal, and have sealed off an area around one of the stern thrusters that appears to be the source of the leak.
Sealing the area will make it possible to pump out the engineroom gradually to minimise further damage.
The 15,550 teu ship, which is classed by ABS, was towed into Suez Canal Container Terminal on Saturday after it lost power. There were no injuries to crew or reports of pollution.
The terminal is operated by sister company APM Terminals and Maersk is considering whether to keep the ship there to undergo repairs.
The Denmark-registered ship was heading from Europe to Asia and had just entered the canal at the time of the incident on Friday night. It was carrying 13,537 teu at the time.
Half the boxes on board are empty. All will now be discharged and loaded onto other vessels, with priority given to refrigerated cargo, a spokesman told Lloyd’s List.
Investigators have found that water entered the ship through one of the stern thrusters’ openings, then flooded through the 120 m long propeller shaft to the engineroom, which lies below the accommodation block in the middle of the ship.
The 14-cylinder engine will be left under water until the situation has been fully assessed, rather than risk further problems by exposing it to oxygen.
Maersk Line is still making arrangements for the cargo and considering whether its own ships have space for all the containers that need to be delivered, or whether to charter additional tonnage.
News of the incident first surfaced on social media sites, some tweets claiming that Emma Maersk was at risk of sinking.
However, the Danish line said there was never any risk of that.
“The initial assessment is that the vessel was not at any time in any danger of sinking, nor was the crew at any time in danger,” the line said. “However, the main engine lost power and the vessel was not able to sail on its own.”
The 397 m long, 56 m wide Emma Maersk was the first of a new class of containerships that were the largest in the world in terms of cargo capacity until a few weeks ago.
Maersk has never experienced an incident of this nature with one of its big ships before. Emma Maersk, which has seven sisterships, was drydocked last year.
The ship is fitted with a 14-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex96C engine with an output of 80,080 kW, or 108,920 bhp.
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