THE US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the probable cause of the container loss aboard the US-flagged 7,471-TEU President Eisenhower south of Oakland was a mistake in noting the weight of 39 containers when loading plan was developed ashore, reports New York's MarineLog.
The actual verified gross mass (VGM) for the 39 containers was 18.3 to 22.2 tonnes greater than the VGMs used to develop the cargo loading plan at the time of the accident on February 6, 2024.
Because the cargo loading plan included inaccurate VGMs, the container stack weights exceeded the maximum weight limit and the containers were loaded in reverse-stratified stacks This caused the cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel drifted south of Oakland.
Shoreside planners records showed that the containers were overweight and reverse-stratified stacks, causing cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel was drifting.
The cargo loading plan for the President Eisenhower was developed by the shoreside planners using the verified gross mass, or VGM, of each container, which was provided by the booking agent.
The VGM was determined by combining the empty weight of the container plus the weight of the cargo loaded into it. Before the plan was developed, the booking agent had to manually enter the cargo weight of 40 containers due to an error in the booking system.
During the manual entry, 39 container cargo weights were entered incorrectly and the VGM for those containers was significantly underreported.
SeaNews Turkey
The actual verified gross mass (VGM) for the 39 containers was 18.3 to 22.2 tonnes greater than the VGMs used to develop the cargo loading plan at the time of the accident on February 6, 2024.
Because the cargo loading plan included inaccurate VGMs, the container stack weights exceeded the maximum weight limit and the containers were loaded in reverse-stratified stacks This caused the cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel drifted south of Oakland.
Shoreside planners records showed that the containers were overweight and reverse-stratified stacks, causing cargo-securing equipment to fail while the vessel was drifting.
The cargo loading plan for the President Eisenhower was developed by the shoreside planners using the verified gross mass, or VGM, of each container, which was provided by the booking agent.
The VGM was determined by combining the empty weight of the container plus the weight of the cargo loaded into it. Before the plan was developed, the booking agent had to manually enter the cargo weight of 40 containers due to an error in the booking system.
During the manual entry, 39 container cargo weights were entered incorrectly and the VGM for those containers was significantly underreported.
SeaNews Turkey
