The Maersk Essen arrived this week at an anchorage at Mexico’s Port of Lazaro Cardenas after losing some 750 containers overboard as it sailed across the Pacific Ocean earlier this month.

Casualty management firm WK Webster confirmed that the vessel arrived late on January 26. The company was also able to obtain some footage of the ship, giving our first glimpse at the extent of the cargo loss, however it was forced to take the video down shortly after posting apparently at the request of Maersk over a trademark claim.

The video showed several container bays collapsed on the deck of the Maersk Essen, however not quite to the extent of the ONE Apus incident late last year.

The Maersk Essen was underway from China to Los Angeles, California when it lost some 750 containers overboard during severe weather on January 16. The vessel initially planned to continue its voyage to Los Angeles, but later re-routed to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico where cargo operations are expected to take place – likely a decision made based on available berth space and ongoing congestion at U.S. West Coast ports, according to WK Webster.

All crew members are reported safe.

“It is understood that the vessel may not berth until 30th January whereupon cargo operations can commence. These operations are expected to take several weeks to complete given the complexity and dangers involved,” WK Webster said in its update.

The Maersk Essen incident is the latest of at least four significant container loss incidents to take place in the trans-Pacific trade since early November, underscored by the loss of nearly 2,000 containers from the ONE Apus on November 30.

“We view this as a very serious situation which will be investigated promptly and thoroughly,” Maersk said in a previous statement regarding to the accident. “Operations and vessel safety are our highest priority and we will be taking any necessary steps to minimize the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.”

The Maersk Essen is a 13,100 TEU capacity containership built in 2010 and registered in Denmark. It is operated by Maersk on the TP6 service connecting Asia and the U.S. West Coast with calls in Cai Mep (Vietnam, Kwai Chung (Hong Kong), Yantian (China), Xiamen (China) and Los Angeles (USA).

Source: www.maritime-executive.com