France orders Maersk to find 500 lost containers

France has given Maersk Line until the end of the summer to pinpoint the location of around 500 containers which tumbled overboard from the Svendborg Maersk in internaional waters off the Atlantic coast in February this year. 

None of the crew was injured during the incident and damage to the ship was minor. 

A total of 517 boxes fell into the sea during a storm in the Bay of Biscay. 13 of them, floating on the surface, were recovered by French support vessels in the weeks following the incident. Maersk is said to have been billed €250,000 for the costs incurred. 

However, given the scale of the losses, the French authorites have ordered Maersk to draw up a detailed map indicating the exact location of the containers which sank. This will involve the chartering of a ship capable of carrying out a sonar survey of the ocean floor. 

"It’s perhaps an exceptional request on our part but one which follows an exceptional maritime shipping incident," a spokesman for France’s State Office for Martime Affairs, in Brest, in Brittany, explained in a telephone interview. "However, Maersk has been only too ready to meet the request," the spokesman 
underlined. 

"The aim of the survey is to produce cartographic data which will help fishermen avoid zones where containers lie and prevent the entanglement of nets." 

Maersk Line’s senior press officer, Michael Christian Storgaard, told Lloyd’s Loading List.com that scanning would commence once the survey vessel was available. 

"We have had a constructive dialogue and understanding with local authorities in both France and UK and we remain committed to doing our part to best mitigate the consequences of the Svendborg Maersk incident."

However, he gave no indication of the duration of the search operation nor the likely financial outlay required to carry it out. 

Over 80% of the boxes lost were empties and the remainder contained dry, non-hazardous goods, including cigarettes, many of which were found washed-up along the coastline of south-west England. 

Maersk Line to pinpoint Svendborg lost containers

Maersk Line has been ordered by France to locate nearly 500 containers lost in February's incident with its Svendborg vessel. The deadline given by France is the end of the summer.

In February, Svendborg Maersk was caught in severe storm (waves were eight feet high and winds were blowing up to 46 m/sec) in international waters off the Atlantic coast in the Bay of Biscay (60 nm off Brest and 75 nm off Land's End in Cornwall). This resulted in the total loss of 517 boxes in the water. No crew member was injured. French support vessels managed to recover only 13 of the fallen containers (which were floating on the surface). The incident cost Maersk €250,000. Nearly 80% of the sunken containers were empty, the rest had non-hazardous cargo such as cigarettes, some of which were washed-up along the southwest coastline of the UK.

Maersk has been ordered to draw up a map which indicates in details the location of the boxes. The operation will involve a vessel which will proceed a sonar survey of the ocean floor.

France State Office for Maritime Affairs (Brest, Brittany) explained:

"Its perhaps an exceptional request on our part but one which follows an exceptional maritime shipping incident.
"However, Maersk has been only too ready to meet the request.
"The aim of the survey is to produce cartographic data which will help fishermen avoid zones where containers lie and prevent the entanglement of nets."

Michael Christian Storgaard, senior press officer with Maersk line, confirmed they would start the scanning once the survey ship was at their disposal.

"We have had a constructive dialogue and understanding with local authorities in both France and UK and we remain committed to doing our part to best mitigate the consequences of the Svendborg Maersk incident."

The company did not indicate the operation's duration nor its presumptive cost.