Crew forced to abandon container ship as it tips over in dramatic Liverpool2 scenes

[Doc Vernon]

MSC MATILDA was seen tilting in Liverpool2 dock on Friday (May 24). The docked MSC MATILDA at Liverpool2 which is reportedly carrying millions of pounds worth of goods,ran into trouble in the early hours of Friday morning (May 24). The coastguard sent lifeboats, tugs and a pollution response vessel out to the scene after being contacted by Peel Ports who operate the dock at Seaforth. The crew from the 20-year-old ship, which sails under the Panama flag, reportedly abandoned the vessel at 2am this morning, one witness told the ECHO. The same man said he thought the ship would "capsize" because of the way it was leaning over. A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "HM Coastguard was contacted by Peel Ports VTS at around 2.25am today (24 May) to report that a container vessel was listing just outside Gladstone Dock on the River Mersey." "Crosby Coastguard Rescue Team and the RNLI Hoylake all weather lifeboats have been sent to the scene, two tugs and a tier 2 pollution response vessel are on standby as a precautionary measure. MCA’s Duty Counter Pollution & Salvage Officer, Duty Surveyor and the Marine Accident Information Board have been informed. "All ship’s crew onboard are safe and well. ""The vessel is now reported to be back on an even keel following a ballast transfer with unloading due to commence The crew eventually returned to the ship at 8.30am once the vessel was righted. A spokesperson from Peel Ports said: “We can confirm at 2am this morning, Friday 24th May, a container vessel at the Port of Liverpool started to list. We immediately instigated the emergency response procedure under the leadership of the Group Harbour Master. A controlled and safe evacuation of the vessel was completed in the early hours of this morning whilst the vessel was under maritime assessment. “As of 08:00 the vessel was stable and maritime assessments by Port State Control are continuing. “The health and safety of our employees, customers and contractors remains our priority. In line with Maritime Law, State Control need to complete their inspections to ensure the vessel is sail worthy in UK and International waters.” The £400m Liverpool2 container terminal is part of the Port of Liverpool, owned by Peel Ports . Opened in 2016 it is best known for its giant red cranes and means Liverpool can now handle the world's biggest container ships. Source : Liverpool echo

[happy daze john in oz]

Sounds a bit odd for one to be listing whilst in port, but stranger things have happened with ships.
The crew are safe, that is the most important part of the story.
Sounds as if some one was not sure of the correct way to off load maybe?

[Ivan Cloherty]

Sounds as if some one was not sure of the correct way to off load maybe?

According to reports in Maritime Press they were transferring ballast. Not ALL (as reported in the Press) of the crew would have left the ship as to get the vessel back on an even keel engineers and mates would have remained on board, deck to calculate what needs to be done to right the vessel and engineers to carry out what conclusions had been agreed. Seems to have worked, the vessel didn't magically right itself. A lot of nerve, calculations and indeed bravery would be needed as it was a very severe list from the photos probably in the 15 -20 degree area

[Chris Allman]

I have to say viewing it from the other side of the river it looked rather alarming as I had never seen a container ship at such an angle. They say she went to 42 degrees before they managed to start to right her. Apparently she would have gone over completely at 47 degrees. Rather a close thing. She has since sailed .

[Keith Tindell]

Having set sail, i would think a lot of the crew will be nervous, i know i would, but then those box boats always look top heavy to me, kt

[John Arton]

As part of the company's SMS the master would have access to a 24hour/365 day emergency response team contracted to, or owned by, MSC. They would have all the vessels details regarding stability, cargo plan and ships equipment and would have been able to supply the master with the correct steps to take to correct the situation.
In my last outfit our SMS required us to monthly carry out emergency drills ( not the weekly fire/boat drills) but drills that required the involved the participation of head office that required the activation of the red alert button required under the SOLAS ISPS regulations. Additionally we had to annually carry out a drill that included the use of a flag and coastal state authorities.
One year on the chemical tanker I was captain of I decided we would test the system to its full extent. We were fully loaded with benzene and styrene monomer bound for the MSC so after informing the head office that sometime in the morning we would be activating the emergency response button and involving the coast state in our drill off we went. After morning smoko I pushed the button and then called Anglesey coastguard that although this was a drill we had a serious emergency on board consisting of a toxic release, cargo on fire and injury to personnel. Within minutes I had head office on the phone quickly followed by the head of the emergency response team of the MCA. Although it was only a drill within a very short period of time we had a coastguard helicopter over us clearing the airspace around us and warning all other vessels in the vicinity to keep a 3 mile exclusion zone around us, the lifeboat en route to provide medical assistance and a call from the local salvage and pollution control outfit contracted by head office, offering their services and giving an ETA. All very professionally done despite all involved knowing it was a simulation.
Got a very nice email from the MCA via the head office saying it was the first time that a company and a ship had actually involved them in a required drill.
Rgds
J.A.

[happy daze john in oz]

Often wonder about some of those container ships.
We get hundreds into Port Melbourne and the way some are stacked gives thought to how they behave in rough seas.
Have seen a couple that have looked he worse fort wear with some stern end containers at a funny angle.
Depending on port of discharge determines how they will be loaded. Some with heavy cargo some with very light stuff in them.
Could be a nightmare working out where they have to go.

[Samuel Denton]

Just look at a modern Cruise ship, floating blocks of posh Flats, wonder how one of them things would fair in a North Atlantic gale, not very well I would suspect. One would assume that weather routing would be used so as to avoid bad weather, even todays Box boats will use weather routing if necessary.

[Keith Tindell]

In my time at sea there were to my knowledge no box boats, i came ashore in 1964, a question someone on board here may answer for me is, do these box boats have stabilisers ? , something else that i never sailed with. If they have stabilisers , and as the recent episode with a cruise boat of the Norwegian coast shows, they really do rock and roll if there is a problem. On a box boat, i should imagine that would be a big big problem in a seaway, kt

[happy daze john in oz]

Do not think container ships have stablisers on them.
As to most cruise ships they are built a bit like a shuttle cock.
Most weight at the base with the inner full of open spaces.
Some do ship well in rough weather, Cunard Queens do well, but there have been some scares with others.
However most only cruise regions during the summer months when seas are normally calmer.