‘Emma Maersk repairs will take several months’

Immediate repairs to the Emma Maersk are being completed according to schedule, Maersk Line reported last week. She was due to be towed to a repair facility on Sunday so that the full extent of damage to the engines could then be assessed and the work of restoring her back to full health begin. It will still be several months before repairs are completed. On February 1, Emma Maersk, currently Maersk Line’s largest container vessel, experienced an ingress of water into the engine room. She had just commenced her southbound transit through the Suez Canal en route to Asia. The captain decided to terminate the planned voyage and go alongside the nearby Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT). While the exact cause of the incident is still being investigated, it has been confirmed that the water came in through a breach in the stern thruster tunnel. According to Captain Marius Gardastovu, there was never any real danger or panic at any point. “Of course it is a shocking experience when you look back and consider what could have happened,” he said. “But given the circumstances, everything was handled as well as possible because of a close-knit crew who knew exactly what to do.” She was loaded with containers equivalent to 13 537 TEUs of which 6 425 were full. Alternative arrangements for the cargo were made, with sensitive cargo loaded onto Maersk Line’s existing network shortly after the incident.