CREW SAFE AFTER PERU INCIDENT: EVERGREEN
About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations
Crew safe after Peru incident: Evergreen
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations
Staff writer, with CNA
Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day.
The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement.
The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves, the company said.
Containers that fell from Evergreen Marine Corp’s Ever Lunar float in the water off Peru on Friday. Photo: Screen grab from X account @ntrujillo_pe
The shipping operator said it would cooperate with local port authorities in their investigation.
Foreign media reported that about 50 containers at the stern of the vessel fell overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and briefly disrupting operations.
Agencia EFE quoted Port of Callao official Amilcar Velasquez as saying that the Ever Lunar was carrying about 7,000 containers and 50 fell into the sea.
The cause of the incident was still under investigation, Velasquez said, adding that no one was injured, as the containers that fell were all at the stern.
Authorities have ruled out the possibility that the items inside the containers that fell into the sea were hazardous, he said in the report.
“So far, we have observed that the containers carried plastic products and we have ruled out the possibility that these goods will cause pollution to the ocean,” he added.
taipeitimes.com
