Search underway after French-owned ship loses 44 containers off S.Africa
by AFP Staff Writers
Johannesburg (AFP) July 17, 2024
Authorities were scouring the ocean off South Africa’s east coast Wednesday for 44 containers missing after breaking loose from a French-owned ship in heavy seas last week, the maritime body said.
The ultra-large container ship heading to Le Havre from Asia encountered bad weather in the Indian Ocean near the city of Durban on July 9, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said.
Aerial surveys of the area were being carried out to trace the containers and other vessels in the area have been asked to look out for them, SAMSA spokesman Tebogo Ramatjie told AFP.
“We’ve received information from passing ships. Some of them spotted containers in the area but our aerial survey have not found any containers yet,” he said.
The cargo was lost when a container stack collapsed on the Benjamin Franklin, a Maltese-flagged ship owned by French logistics firm CMA CGM. Thirty other containers were damaged.
“All containers lost at sea contained harmless goods and do not contain any dangerous cargo,” CMA CGM said in a statement last week.
Severe storm conditions near the Cape of Good Hope last week severely disrupted shipping.
The route has seen an increase in traffic in recent months as ships seek to avoid the Red Sea route because of the threat of attack from Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
Heavy seas led 18 Filipino crew from a Panama-registered cargo vessel to abandon ship off South Africa’s west coast on July 9.
The MV Ultra Galaxy was beached northwest of Cape Town Wednesday as operations were underway to seal its fuel tanks to prevent an oil spill, SAMSA said.
The vessel was headed to Dar es Salaam and carrying fertiliser — a significant portion of which was swept away.
Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 – Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled “by Staff Writers” include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report’s information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : IndoDaily – https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Search_underway_after_French-owned_ship_loses_44_containers_off_SAfrica_999.html