During her maiden (first) voyage, MEGA container ship Al Zubara suffered damages and lost containers overboard during a storm in the Mediterranean Sea. Talk about bad luck.
The Al Zubara was on it’s first voyage ever, loaded with 12600 containers, when it encountered rough weather complete with monster waves. It was the sea that caught the better of the 400m long container ship as it traveled through Southern Europe.
It is estimated that the Al Zubara lost only a couple of containers overboard but plenty more shifted and were subsequently damaged. This loss is tiny when compared to February last year’s losses on board the Svendborg Maersk during a storm in the Bay of Biscay – this vessel lost a staggering 520!
The Al Zubara had no visible hull damage, but railings and cargo secure lines at the bow were broken. No seamen were injured during the incident and there is no seaworthiness dangers to the vessel.
The container ship made an emergency call into the Spain port of Malaga where with the assistance of special contracted cranes (to handle the mega ship) all damaged containers were removed. The remaining containers were safely secured.
The Al Zubara has a maximum load capacity of 19,000 twenty foot containers.
Image credit: pacifictycoon
Source credit: http://www.newsmaritime.com
