At her christening in Hamburg on August 2, 2015, the "MSC Zoe" was celebrated as the world's largest container ship at the time. But the size becomes a problem:on January 2, 2019, the giant crashed - with serious consequences.
Hundreds of onlookers gather in the port of Hamburg on August 1, 2015 to follow the arrival of a giant:The "MSC Zoe" pulls in, launches and boats with ship enthusiasts head towards the freighter. It was the largest container ship in the world at the time and moored at Eurogate's container terminal a short time later. 395.4 meters long and with a carrying capacity of 19,224 standard containers (TEU), the third mega freighter of MSC's so-called Olympic class is to fly the Panamanian flag in the future.
Godmother Zoe Vago, granddaughter of the MSC company founder, inaugurates the ship's bell of the "MSC Zoe".Like its sister ships MSC Oscar and MSC Oliver, it is a few meters shorter than the China Shipping company's CSCL Globe and its sister ships, which entered the Port of Hamburg in January. However, the MSC ships can transport around 200 more containers. On August 2, 2015, the ceremonial act follows, the christening of the 140 million US dollar container giant - as it should be with the obligatory champagne bottle and in the presence of the godmother. The namesake is the then four-year-old Zoe Vago, a granddaughter of the company founder and MSC CEO Gianluigi Aponte. The following evening, the "MSC Zoe" leaves the Hanseatic city and heads towards its everyday life.
The "MSC Zoe" in data
Year of construction :2015
Ship type :container ship
Overall length :395.4 meters
Width :59 metres
Tonnage: 193,000
Capacity: 19,224 standard containers (TEU)
Draft: 16 meters
Speed: 22.8 knots
Flag: Panama
Home Port: Panama
Owner: MSC
The "MSC Zoe" belongs to the Olympic class of MSC container ships. Six ships of this series were delivered in 2014 and 2015. With a loading capacity of 19,224 TEU, they are among the largest container ships in the world.
Environmental associations warn of risks
Meanwhile, several major environmental organizations are warning of the danger of accidents caused by the ever larger mega container ships. "The risk increases with the ships," says a joint statement by the WWF, BUND and NABU. The environmental organizations criticized that dredging the comparatively narrow Elbe did not change the susceptibility of large ships to wind and tidal currents, as well as technical defects and nautical errors. However, the risks are not discussed at the recurring celebrations for large container ships in Hamburg. "People are trying to use a crowbar to demonstrate that the port of Hamburg can also be approached by mega container ships in the future," said Manfred Braasch from BUND Hamburg.
The title of the world's largest container ship quickly gone
Ships of the Megamax class such as the "MSC Gülsün" quickly outstrip the "MSC Zoe" in terms of world size.But the risk posed by the shipping giants does not only relate to the Elbe. Wind and weather prevail above all on the open sea. And so the "MSC Zoe" should soon give up its title as the world's largest container ship. A few years later, ships of the Megamax class such as the "MSC Gülsün" and the "HMM Algericas" are on the move with up to 23,500 and 23,964 standard containers respectively. At 400 meters in length, the "Ever Ace" is currently the largest container ship in the world. The "MSC Zoe" still dominates the headlines in 2019.
"MSC Zoe" in the storm:Hundreds of containers overboard
The freighter is on its way from Portugal to Bremerhaven when it hit heavy seas on January 2, 2019 and lost part of its cargo. Initially, there was talk of 30 containers that went overboard. However, the shipping company must quickly correct its number upwards. Up to 270 containers fell into the North Sea - including at least one with dangerous goods. Inside:dangerous dibenzoyl peroxide used to make plastic.
The CCME takes over the operation from Cuxhaven. Containers are spotted off the Dutch coast, drifting towards the islands of Terschelling and Vlieland. An oil surveillance aircraft, a Bundeswehr helicopter, a buoy tender and also the multi-purpose ship "Neuwerk" make their way to the operational area north-west of Borkum to locate and salvage the containers.
Shipping company has to correct itself again
However, the application proves to be extremely difficult. A week after the accident, not a single steel container has been fished out of German waters. The salvage company commissioned by the MSC shipping company assumes that it will take three, if not six, months before the cargo is salvaged - and that the containers most likely all burst when they fell into the North Sea and are brought ashore in individual parts have to. The shipping company has to correct its information about the lost cargo again:at least 340 containers fell into the water.
Dangerous flotsam:refrigerators, dangerous goods, microplastics
Littered beaches as far as the eye can see:The smallest pieces of plastic in particular are a concern for helpers and experts.The cargo makes its way on land - whole and in parts. Refrigerators, televisions, bicycle sheet metal, clothing and plastic flowers appear every day for weeks on the beaches of the islands in East Frisia and the Netherlands, and later also on the mainland. Hundreds of firefighters, employees from the dike protection, but also volunteers go out again and again to collect the garbage from the beaches. The island of Borkum in particular has other problems to deal with:Empty sacks that previously contained the toxic dibenzoyl peroxide are washed up on the beach. Uncertainty is spreading among the islanders about the risk that could emanate from the dangerous goods left in the sea. In addition to the peroxides in the dangerous goods container, the environmentally harmful dicyclohexyl phthalate - a plasticizer - was also loaded. This is now washed up on the island as microplastics. The tiny granulate particles are difficult to salvage, are also not biodegradable and, according to Greenpeace, cause long-term damage to various aquatic organisms and also endanger human health. A second dangerous goods container with around 1,500 kilograms of lithium-ion batteries is now also missing.
What led to the accident of the "MSC Zoe"?
Was the cargo on board the "MSC Zoe" not properly secured? Or did the freighter briefly run aground?While coastal residents and fishermen worry, cleaning their beaches and sonar boats continue to search for the lost containers in the sea, the search for the cause of the accident also begins. Was the ship loaded incorrectly? Were the containers not adequately secured? Has the giant ship started rolling due to storms and rough seas? Did the "MSC Zoe" briefly run aground near the coast and did the tremors cause the containers to slip away? Investigations are carried out on several levels. The Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) in Hamburg as well as the Dutch safety authority OVV and authorities in Panama, under whose flag the "MSC Zoe" sails, are investigating.
Political demands are also raised quickly. Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Olaf Lies (SPD), for example, wants dangerous goods containers to be equipped with tracking transmitters in the future. In addition, tightening of shipping route regulations should be examined internationally in order to prevent accidents involving large container ships near the coast in the future. The Federal Council also wants stricter rules for freighters with dangerous goods on board.
Container search will be discontinued in autumn 2019
For months, the containers were searched for in the North Sea using special ships such as the "Atlantic Tonjer". In the fall of 2019, the authorities will finish the work.By no means all containers can be tracked down and salvaged during the months-long search. According to the Emden Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) in September 2019, around a quarter of the 85 containers that were suspected to be off the coast of Lower Saxony will remain in pieces on the seabed forever. "We would now only be looking for a needle in a haystack," said official Helmut Olthoff at the time. The search is stopped. "All of this is very unsatisfactory, but now we have to live with it," said Olthoff. The other salvage work on the German side is also considered to be completed in November of that year, and all obstacles relevant to shipping have been removed.
The Dutch do not want to give up so easily and continue to search for the lost cargo for a while. But here, too, around a third of the cargo thrown overboard cannot be salvaged in the end and will probably remain on the seabed for a long time.
Trigger still unclear after a year
This nautical chart from the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation shows the two accident locations with times off Ameland (left, Netherlands) and the East Frisian island of Borkum.Exactly why the containers lost mass remains unclear for a long time. In December 2019, the German and Dutch authorities published an interim report on the accident. Two individual events within a short period of time are clearly identified:the loss of containers off Ameland and off Borkum. A total of 342 of 8,062 containers were disembarked. 1,047 others remaining on board damaged. The crew of the "MSC Zoe" noticed the first loss of cargo after the ship rolled heavily in the storm, checked the damage - and the ship meanwhile continued its voyage. Shortly thereafter, the freighter rolls again, north of Borkum more containers fall into the sea. The crew informed the traffic control center German Big Traffic and set course for Bremerhaven at a reduced speed, where the ship docked on January 3rd.
As the flag state, Panama will be in charge of further investigating the cause of the accident. Germany and the Netherlands are considered to be participating coastal states.
Final report:The problem of size when scrolling
A year and a half after the accident, the final report is finally available. The experts confirm once again that the ship had started to roll and that the cargo had been secured in accordance with the legal requirements. So where was the problem? It was due to the size of the freighter, once celebrated as the largest container ship in the world:Ships of this size have "very high stability, which has a very negative effect on the cargo when it rolls," explains Ulf Kaspera, Director of the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation. In an inclined position, it can erect itself again very quickly - albeit with the effect that "uncanny acceleration forces act on the load". A phenomenon, the risks of which must be reckoned with in the future - until the international rules for ship safety take this problem into account.
"MSC Zoe" back on the road after two weeks
For the "MSC Zoe" itself changes after the momentous incident - nothing. Just two weeks after the accident, she was declared safe for traffic by the responsible trade association for traffic and ship safety and set sail again on January 17, 2019.
The shipping company MSC
The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), based in Geneva, is currently the second largest container shipping company in the world after the Danish Maersk Group. It was founded in 1970 by Gianluigi Aponte, a captain from the Italian region of Sorrento on the Gulf of Naples, who is still at the helm of the group. MSC is managed by his son Diego Aponte. The cruise line MSC Cruises, based in Naples, also belongs to the MSC Group. The company has almost 400 branches worldwide and employs more than 30,000 people. (as of December 2021)