Doomed MOL Comfort's aft section sinks, sister ships to be withdrawn
ONE of two parts of the 8,000-TEU MOL Comfort that split in two in a storm on June 17 off the south Arabian coast has sunk into the Indian Ocean after pitching and rolling in heavy seas with containers spilling off the weather deck.Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), Japan's biggest and the 10 largest in the world, also announced it was withdrawing the Comfort's sister ships for a full maintenance check.
"The aft part sank at 16:48 JST (11:48 Dubai time) on June 27. The fore part is located near 16'05"N 68'34"E. The weather in the area is still adverse," said the latest MOL bulletin.
The communique also said the forward section part is being towed with most cargo aboard."We are keeping patrol boats to monitor the situation of oil leakages and floating containers in the area where the aft part sank. We confirm no oil film around the fore part, while no large volume of oil leakage has been confirmed through the monitoring in the area where the aft part sank," said the statement.MOL, together with shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, ClassNK, will continue their investigation to find the cause of the accident.
"We have decided to take extra preventive measures. For the six sister vessels that we operate, we have already started the operational precautions. The vessels will phase-out from the service for the upgrade works and the sailing schedule will be revised accordingly," said the statement.
"We will conduct upgrade works to further strengthen the hull structure. This will enhance the strength of the hull twice as much as the safety standard," the statement said.The sister ships are the MOL Creation, the MOL Charisma, the MOL Celebration, the MOL Courage, the MOL Competence and the MOL Commitment.
ONE of two parts of the 8,000-TEU MOL Comfort that split in two in a storm on June 17 off the south Arabian coast has sunk into the Indian Ocean after pitching and rolling in heavy seas with containers spilling off the weather deck.Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), Japan's biggest and the 10 largest in the world, also announced it was withdrawing the Comfort's sister ships for a full maintenance check.
"The aft part sank at 16:48 JST (11:48 Dubai time) on June 27. The fore part is located near 16'05"N 68'34"E. The weather in the area is still adverse," said the latest MOL bulletin.
The communique also said the forward section part is being towed with most cargo aboard."We are keeping patrol boats to monitor the situation of oil leakages and floating containers in the area where the aft part sank. We confirm no oil film around the fore part, while no large volume of oil leakage has been confirmed through the monitoring in the area where the aft part sank," said the statement.MOL, together with shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, ClassNK, will continue their investigation to find the cause of the accident.
"We have decided to take extra preventive measures. For the six sister vessels that we operate, we have already started the operational precautions. The vessels will phase-out from the service for the upgrade works and the sailing schedule will be revised accordingly," said the statement.
"We will conduct upgrade works to further strengthen the hull structure. This will enhance the strength of the hull twice as much as the safety standard," the statement said.The sister ships are the MOL Creation, the MOL Charisma, the MOL Celebration, the MOL Courage, the MOL Competence and the MOL Commitment.