Evergreen Containership Grounded Near Baltimore

Evergreen-owned containership grounded near Baltimore, Maryland following Suez saga.

Incident

After leaving the Port of Baltimore on Sunday night en route to Norfolk, Virginia, the Evergreen Marine-owned containership Ever Forward ran aground in the Chesapeake Bay.

While proceeding with a pilot on board, the 12,118-TEU containership grounded, as per a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard’s 5th District. Moreover, the spokesperson indicated that no injuries, pollution or damage to the ship have resulted from the incident. However, the Coast Guard is investigating if a mechanical failure caused the grounding.

Note that, the ship situates outside the main shipping channel. Hence, the Coast Guard and Maryland Department of the Environment are coordinating the ship’s refloating; tugs are on site.

Déjà vu

The incident comes a few days short of one year since the 20,388TEU Ever Given famously ran aground on the Suez Canal. Therefore, blocking traffic on one of the world’s most important waterways for six days.

The 400-meter-long Ever Given is longer than the Eiffel Tower and weighs 220,000 tons. The vessel and its 17,600 containers blocked the canal in both directions. Thus, resulting in a backlog of more than 400 ships delayed by the incident.