ONE Apus

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The ONE Apus in 2020.

The ONE Apus is a 14,000 TEU container ship. In 2020, it lost approximately 1,816 containers overboard in the Pacific Ocean, the largest loss of containers in transport since 2013.

Vessel

The ONE Apus is a 14,000 TEU container ship built in 2019 measuring 364-meters in length and sailing under the Japanese flag. The vessel is one of a series of 15 Bird-class container ships, operated by Japan’s Ocean Network Express, sailing under the Japanese flag.[1]

2020 Pacific Ocean incident

On 30 November 2020 the ONE Apus was sailing from Yantian, China, to Long Beach, California, when it encountered severe weather approximately 1,600 nautical miles north-west of Hawaii.[2] Heavy rolling caused the loss overboard of approximately 1,816 containers including 64 with dangerous goods.[3] The ship arrived at Kobe, Japan, on 8 December, where it offloaded nearly 1000 damaged containers, and resumed its voyage on 16 March 2021.[4] The weather at the time of the accident was reported as Beaufort force 4 with north-westerly seas of 5 to 6 meters and a “long high swell”. Weather maps show significant wave heights of up to 16 meters associated with the weather system encountered by the vessel.[5]

The cause of the accident is being investigated but probably involves a combination of factors, including the weather conditions, the ship’s rolling behaviour and the inherent hazards of eight-high on-deck container stowage.[6] One contributor to the accident could be parametric roll resonance,[7] a hazard known to affect container ships.[8]

The ONE Apus incident was the largest loss of containers in transport since the sinking of the MOL Comfort in 2013. The cargo loss cost is estimated as $90 million.[9] The ship was delayed for approximately 3 months, and the cost of supply chain disruption for US manufacturers and retailers is not yet quantified. Insurance claims could exceed $200m.[10]

References

  1. ^ Shen, Chichen (1 December 2020). "ONE boxship loses containers in Pacific". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. ^ Sheldrick, Aaron (4 December 2020). "Container ship loses nearly 2,000 cargo carriers in Pacific storm". Reuters. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ^ Waters, Will (7 December 2020). "1,816 containers confirmed lost in ONE Apus incident". Lloyd's Loading List. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  4. ^ "ONE Apus Containership Returns to Sea After Three Month Recovery". The Maritime Executive. 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "ONE Apus arrives at Port of Kobe". Safety4Sea. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  6. ^ Baker, James. "No easy answers for ONE Apus investigation". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  7. ^ Spilman, Rick (8 December 2020). "What Happened on the Container Ship ONE Apus? A Glimpse at Parametric Rolling". Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. ^ Guide for the Assessment of Parametric Roll Resonance in the Design of Container Carriers (PDF). American Bureau of Shipping. 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. ^ Koh, A (2021). "Shipping Containers Fall Overboard at Fastest Rate in Seven Years".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Chambers, Sam (14 December 2020). "Drone survey suggests ONE Apus cargo claims could top $200m". splash247. Retrieved 27 May 2021.