Australia Bans Danaos Bulk Carrier for 3 Months Over Unseaworthy Condition

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a three-month ban on the Cypriot-flagged bulk carrier Peace from entering Australian ports due to its unseaworthy condition.

The ship is operated by Danaos Shipping Co., one of the world’s largest containership operators and the exclusive manager of Danaos Corporation (NYSE: DAC). More recently, Danaos has also re-entered the dry bulk market.

The ban follows a series of failures by Danaos Shipping, including a prolonged detention of another of its vessels, the Suez Canal, in January 2024.

AMSA’s Acting Executive Director Operations, Greg Witherall, said that these incidents led to serious concerns about other ships operated by the company and an increase in the frequency of inspections.

Witherall shared that Danaos Shipping was formally warned in January 2024 about the need to rectify systemic issues that led to the detention of the Suez Canal. However, the warning seemed to have had little impact.

“Clearly that letter of warning fell on deaf ears. Fast forward 5 months and we have had yet another one of Danaos Shipping’s vessels, the Peace, detained in an Australian port for a lack of maintenance and serious deterioration of fixtures and fittings such as hatches,” said Witherall.

He described the condition of the Peace as posing “a very real and unacceptable risk to the safety of seafarers onboard and Australia’s marine environment.” The ban was implemented after the Peace was detained in Newcastle for its watertight and weathertight failures, which were only rectified recently.

“Allowing a ship to fall into a state of deterioration is completely unacceptable – there are no excuses for this level of neglect,” said Witherall.

“Further action may be taken against the company itself should Danaos Shipping continue down this trajectory of operating unseaworthy ships,” he said.