Shipping Container "Yard Sale" in the Bay of Biscay

In an unfortunate turn of events, the containership Maersk Svendborg was hit by some particularly brutal weather last week in the Bay of Biscay, en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka; and the worst case scenario was achieved as 520 shipping containers had been torn from the deck of the vessel.

Of the 520 shipping containers lost, 85% of the equipment was empty, and none of the equipment contained hazardous materials. Maersk is currently contacting anyone with cargo on board to update them on the status and any possible delays or insurance claims.

Previously on ContainerAuction.com, we published the article "Shipping Containers Overboard!" after the CMA-CGM vessel lost 14 containers during a storm. In this article went into detail about the facts and figures behind shipping containers lost at sea; and to put the Svendbord loss into perspective it's estimated that annually approximately 350 shipping containers are lost at sea. When compared to the 520 lost last week it's a very significant loss. The Maersk Svendbord is an 8,160 TEU containership constructed in 1998. At the time this article was published the vessel is in the port of Malaga [Maersk Svendborg position].

Maersk has confirmed that no vessel crew was injured in theevent and they are currently reviewing their procedures to see if this event could have been avoided.