ClassNK: Release of MOL Comfort Investigation Report Pushed Back

MOL Comfort as seen on June 17, 2013 in the Indian Ocean.

International classification society ClassNK said Friday that they will be delaying the release of its findings from the ClassNK Casualty Investigation Team’s analysis and investigation into the June break up and sinking of the MV MOL Comfort in the Indian Ocean.

The team began investigating the MOL Comfort casualty in Mid-June following the initial break up of the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines containership and had expected to complete its analysis and investigation of the casualty in early September. In a statement Friday, ClassNK said that the time consuming nature of some of the analysis work has forced the team to revise its forecast for completion and it now expects to release its findings to the public by the end of October 2013.

SEE ALSO: MOL Comfort Incident in Photos

The 2008-built MOL Comfort broke in half on June 17 while underway from Singapore to Jeddah with a load of 7,041 TEUs. All 26 crew escaped the sinking ship on two life rafts and a lifeboat and were picked up by another vessel. Both the fore and aft sections eventually caught fire and sank.

As a precaution, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, along with shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and classification society ClassNK, took measures to reinforce the hulls of MOL Comfort’s six sister vessels. The work has already been completed three of the vessels -MOL Celebration, MOL Courage, and MOL Creation- and they have already returned to service.

An earlier statement from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said that the work on MOL Charisma and MOL Competence will be completed by the end of September or the beginning of October. Meanwhile, work on MOL Commitment, which was newly delivered this June, is expected to be completed by February 2014.

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