Hundreds of Containers Collapse on Japanese Ship... How Do Cargo Ship Accidents Happen?

Recent Incidents of Container Losses from Ships Increase
Severe Rolling Occurs When Facing Rough Seas and Bad Weather
Risk of Partial Cargo Loss Exists
However, Actual Scale of Cargo Loss Incidents Remains Small So Far
Experts Say "Concerns Over Ship Stability Grow as Cargo Ships Get Larger"

Last year, containers stacked on a ship collapsed during a voyage of the Japanese-flagged vessel 'One Apus' / Photo by Daily Mail website capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Recently, a series of accidents involving hundreds of containers falling off cargo ships during transport has raised concerns about the safety of cargo vessels. Although modern container ships are engineered to be very safe, accidents involving lost cargo still occur due to various reasons such as encountering severe weather.

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), about 90% of global goods trade today is conducted via cargo ships sailing the seas. More than 90,000 cargo ships navigate the oceans annually, capable of transporting a total of 25 to 40 million containers.

As a result, every year there are unfortunate incidents where containers are lost or cargo is "spilled" due to severe weather while cargo ships are underway.

In particular, recently there have been some of the largest cargo ship accidents on record. According to the British daily 'Daily Mail,' on November 30 last year (local time), the Japanese-flagged vessel 'One Apus' encountered severe weather while sailing and lost 1,816 containers.

The One Apus was transporting cargo from a Chinese port to Long Beach, California, and the accident occurred about 2,600 km northwest of Hawaii when it encountered strong winds and waves.

Among the approximately 1,800 lost containers, 64 were classified as 'hazardous materials' capable of causing explosions. This accident was reported as the largest cargo ship accident caused by severe weather.

Meanwhile, on the 16th of last month, the cargo ship 'Maersk Essen,' which was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles, USA, lost 750 containers after encountering turbulence.

How do cargo ship accidents happen? In fact, cargo ships are constructed through highly complex design and engineering processes to prevent such loss accidents. Containers are also carefully stacked on the ship considering the center of gravity.

A ship rolling side to side / Photo by YouTube video capture

However, even the sturdiest ships can be at risk when facing severe weather or rough waves. On unstable seas, waves can hit the ship from the side, causing the ship to rock side to side in a motion called 'rolling,' eventually returning to its original position.

If the rolling angle is between 10-20 degrees, cargo ships can usually handle it easily, but problems arise when the rolling angle exceeds 30 degrees and the ship shakes violently. The weight of the cargo on the ship can amplify the rolling motion, and some containers may fall off the ship if they cannot withstand this movement.

So, how dangerous is actual cargo transport? In fact, statistically, the number of containers lost annually by cargo ships is very minimal compared to the total volume transported.

Busan New Port with stacked containers. / Photo by Yonhap News

According to data from cargo transport solution company 'Cargo Partner,' the average number of containers lost at sea annually from 2008 to 2016 was 568. Considering that tens of millions of containers are transported by sea each year, this is a very small number.

Experts point out that increases in container size and cargo weight could cause problems.

Ship design expert Fortis Paglatos told the US financial media 'The Wall Street Journal' (WSJ) in an interview that concerns about ship stability have increased recently due to larger cargo ships and heavier containers caused by increased trade volume.

He explained, "When waves hit the ship from the side rather than the front, the likelihood of container loss accidents increases. The ship moves forward while shaking up and down and side to side, and if too many container boxes fall at once, this movement can become uncontrollable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.