An ocean-going tug
from Dutch Harbor, Alaska has arrived at a Maersk containership which has been
broken down for more than two weeks in the Pacific Ocean.
As of the latest
update, the ship was currently located some 650 miles off Dutch Harbor, AK.
A damaged fuel pump cause for
main engine to be shut off
Maersk reports that
the MV Maersk Eureka was forced to shut off its main engine back on March 12 to
replace a damaged fuel pump as it was en route to Long Beach. While the vessel
was initially able to continue its voyage, the main again had to be shut off
again on March 14 and the 366-meter-long ship has been adrift ever since as
crews fear restarting the engine could cause further damage.
An update from
Maersk on Tuesday 30 March , 2021said the tug is now with the vessel and
Eureka’s cargo remains stable and secure. As of an earlier March 22 update, all
reefer (refrigerated) containers were with power.
The tug arrived
over the weekend with an engineering team and repair parts. Maersk said it
expects a progress report from the team on Wednesday, at which point it will
have a better indication of when the ship will arrive in Long Beach.
For now, repairs
are expected to continue and weather remains favorable as Maersk continues with
its contingency plan.
Built in 2012,
Maersk Eureka has a cargo capacity of 13,100 twenty-foot equivalent containers
and is registered in Singapore.
The vessel is
operated on Maersk’s Transpacific 3/MSC’s Sequoia service connecting Ningbo and
Shanghai, China with Long Beach, although AIS shows the Eureka last departed
Yokohama, Japan, on March 6.
The Maersk Eureka incident least the third involving a Maersk ship on
the trans-pacific
The Maersk Eureka
incident is now at least the third involving a Maersk ship in as many months on
the trans-pacific. Previously, Maersk Essen and Maersk Eindenhoven each lost
hundreds of containers overboard after encountering severe weather during
recent voyages across the Pacific in January and February, respectively.
Late last year, on
December 20, the 370-meter-long Maersk Elba became disabled just off Portugal’s
southern coast following an engine room fire. The ship was two miles off the
coast when it anchored and she was eventually towed to Algeciras, Spain. |