Hapag and ONE Warn Cargo on Espirito Santo Express Is Severely Fire Damaged

Two weeks after the fire began in the South Atlantic aboard the containership Espirito Santos Express, carriers are now advising customers that they expect “the vast majority of the cargo to be either severely damaged by the fire or a total loss.” This news comes as salvage teams are reported to be making progress with the fire as well as with another containership, HMM Platinum, which reported a fire around the same time.

Built in 2018 and owned by Seaspan Corporation, Espirito Santos Expres is a 11,800 TEU containership operating under charter to Hapag-Lloyd on a shared route with Ocean Network Express. The full details on the fire were not released by claims consultant WK Webster, who reports it was advised of fires and explosions aboard the vessel.

The 28-member crew evacuated the ship on October 15, approximately 975 nautical miles northwest of Tristan da Cunha. The crew was rescued by a passing bulker, but tragically, the chief officer of the bulker Aeolian Arrow was thrown overboard from the rescue boat, and the rescue boat was subsequently swamped and lost. Efforts to recover the officer were unsuccessful.

“In light of the severity of the incident and the extent of the reported fire damage, we wanted to share these developments with you without delay,” Hapag-Lloyd wrote in a customer advisory.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →