Charges have been laid against the master of the APL England, which lost about 50 containers overboard off Sydney on Sunday. The offenses relate to pollution and/or damage of the Australian marine environment as a result of poor cargo loading.
Image Credits: AMSA
AMSA General Manager Operations Allan Schwartz said laying charges against the ship’s Master was not undertaken lightly.
“This and other incidents remind us of the important role the ship’s Master has in ensuring the ships that ply our waters are operated safely and do not damage our marine environment.
Image Credits: AMSA
“Today’s actions should not detract from the responsibility of the shipowner APL Singapore, insurer Steamship Mutual, and operator ANL who remain accountable for remediation of any impacts of this incident.
Image Credits: AMSA
“We welcome ANL taking responsibility by engaging contractors to undertake shoreline clean-up and retrieve some of the floating containers this week, but the impacts of this incident could take months, if not years to remediate and we expect these efforts to be sustained for however long it takes.”
Image Credits: AMSA
Mr Schwartz said the ship remained under detention in the Port of Brisbane and would not be released until its serious deficiencies have been rectified.
Image Credits: AMSA
“As of today, AMSA has placed an additional requirement on the owner of the ship under the Protection of the Seas Act which must be met before the ship will be released from detention.
Image Credits: AMSA
“This action seeks financial security from the insurers in the order of $22 million. This provides a commitment that they will remediate all impacts of this incident. That $22 million covers estimated costs including that of a clean-up.”
Background
Video: 43 Containers Lost, 74 Damaged On Container Ship ‘APL England’ Due To Rough Weather
At about 10.45am AEST this morning, Sunday 24 May, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) received notification that a container ship had lost cargo overboard off the NSW coast.
Just after 6.10am, the Singapore flagged container ship APL England experienced a temporary loss of propulsion during heavy seas about 73 kilometres south east of Sydney.
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Reference: amsa.gov.au
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