In rough weather, early in the morning of 24 May, about 40 containers were lost overboard from the Singapore-flagged container ship APL England.

Inspections 

Inspections of the ship has found inadequate lashing arrangements for cargo and heavily corroded securing points for containers on the deck.

These inspection findings are a clear breach of requirements under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).

The APL England is currently being detained in the Port of Brisbane and the detention will not be lifted until these serious deficiencies are fixed. This is a now matter for the ship’s owner, American President Lines (APL), and the operator to rectify.

Investigations

All findings will form part of AMSA’s ongoing investigation. AMSA, while providing the update on the case said, “while not to pre-empt the outcomes of the investigation, it is clear that the risk of container loss could have been reduced.”

Actions 

AMSA stated that it “expects the ship owner and its insurer to take full responsibility for addressing any impacts of this incident.”

“We have heard, the insurer is already engaging contractors to retrieve some of the floating containers.” stated AMSA. 

AMSA’s Challenger jet continued its search with an aerial survey of the New South Wales coastline to assist in locating and identifying semi-submerged containers in the water. The search identified two targets which are five containers, including one set of four containers locked together. 

To know the full details of the APL England’s container loss case, read: APL England Container Loss case