MSC ship loses 46 containers overboard

According to Seatrade Maritime News, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has reported that the Liberian-flagged MSC Antonia has lost lost 46 containers overboard while a further 305 boxes suffered damage in the Indian Ocean corridor on August 28, 2024.

"The incident occurred approximately 29 nautical miles northeast of Port St. Johns while the vessel was enroute from Colombo to New York. In light of the container loss, a navigation warning has been issued to all vessels operating in the affected area,” SAMSA said in a statement.

The MSC Antonio safely arrived in the port of Cape Town on August 30, where it would undergo a comprehensive assessment and necessary repairs.

The incident with the MSC Antonio follows the loss of 99 containers from the CMA CGM Belem in adverse weather while sailing off the coast of Richards Bay in South Africa on Thursday August 16.

The 13,000 teu CMA CGM Belem sought safe habour in the Port of Ngqurha following the incident and has since been making load adjustments.

On Friday last week, the ship's insurer representatives in South Africa launched a five hour aerial surveillance and search for the vessel's lost containers after several sightings of floating containers along the Wild Coast area of the Eastern Cape province were reported to the authorities.

SAMSA said around 20 containers were spotted but it could not be confirmed that they belonged to the CMA CGM Belem.

The incident with the CMA CGM Belem came just a month after the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin lost 44 containers overboard off the coast of South Africa while sailing round the Cape of Good Hope.

All three vessels in recent incidents were on voyages between Asia and Europe and transiting the Cape of Good Hope due to the security situation in the Red Sea.

Container ships would normally transit the Red Sea and Suez Canal between Asia and Europe. However, the vast majority have diverted to sailing via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthis. This has exposed vessels that would not normally transit the African cape to severe winter storms in the region.

 

 

 

 

Greek vessel hit by missile in Red Sea

A Malta-flagged, Greek-owned vessel has been hit with a missile in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, maritime security firm Ambrey reports It is thought to be the third incident involving the bulk carrier, believed to be named Zografia, in 24 hours.

Tuesday's incident comes as the US military announced it had seized Iranian-supplied weapons bound for the Houthis during an operation last week. Meanwhile, the US has hit more targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

An official told CBS, the BBC's American partner, that the US conducted further strikes on Houthi positions overnight.

The US and UK launched a wave of airstrikes against dozens of Houthi targets on Januart 11 following attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have vowed to retaliate and on Sunday the US said it had shot down a missile fired towards one of its warships from a Houthi area of Yemen.

Several vessels have been targeted by the movement's fighters since November in protest at Israel's war with Hamas.

The Houthis say they are targeting vessels which are Israeli-owned, flagged or operated, or are heading to Israeli ports.

The Red Sea connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal but several shipping lines have announced they are now diverting round the Cape of Good Hope to reach Europe instead.

The US said on Tuesday that analysis from the weapons it seized from a ship near the Yemen coast suggested the Houthis had been using the same kind of weapons in their Red Sea attacks.

"This is the first seizure of lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons (ACW) to the Houthis since the beginning of Houthi attacks against merchant ships in November 2023," US Central Command said in a statement.