12 November 2024
Ever Forward grounding will not end soon
The Ever Forward containership remains aground off Baltimore. Therefore, Evergreen has engaged Donjon-Smit as the salvage company in the operation to refloat the vessel. Note that, the ship has sat in the mud since Sunday night, when it left the Port of Baltimore. The Ever Forward grounding will not end soon
Damages
Underwater inspections indicate that the ship has not suffered any damages in the grounding. So far, no fuel leakage has occurred or detected from the Ever Forward grounding. However, the USCG has ordered the ship’s crew to conduct soundings every four hours of all tanks, bilges, and voids. Thus, monitoring for pollution and report changes in stability, draft, or position, or signs of oil discharge.
Estimations
Moreover, Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina, pointed out that the Ever Forward’s bow is almost 4 m out of the water. Hence, indicating just how high up on the sand the ship is.
“This is going to be a prolonged salvage to get her off,”
Mercogliano Predictions
Evergreen noted that the weight of cargo is a factor in the plan to refloat the ship, potentially indicating that it may become necessary to remove containers from the ship to release her from grounding.