Updates: CSCL Indian Ocean Grounding

One of the world’s biggest containerships is hard aground in Germany’s Elbe River leading to the port of Hamburg.

The vessel CSCL Indian Ocean ran aground Wednesday night at 21:20 UTC. Initial reports said the incident was caused by an apparent mechanical failure.

An attempt to refloat the ship at around noon local time was unsuccessful.

Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) says it has been in touch with the ship owner and they are in the process of developing a salvage plan. A second attempt to refloat the ship is expected during the next high tide at 00:30 a.m. Friday.

An overflight of the area Thursday showed no signs of pollution. There were no injuries reported.

The Hong Kong-flagged ultra large container vessel (ULCV) CSCL Indian Ocean measures 399.6 meters long by 58.6 meters wide. The vessel belongs to China Shipping Container Lines, part of China Shipping Group. It is one of 5 CSCL ships with the capacity to carry a staggering 19,100 twenty foot containers.

The incident has caused minor impacts to ship traffic on the Elbe River.

An update from the CCME said crews will begin removing some fuel from grounded the ship. The tugs Dolphin and Boxer will remain on scene overnight. The pollution control vessel Neuwerk is also on site.   

Below is an AIS replay of the grounding:

CSCL Indian Ocean is part of a new breed of giant containerships designed to carry more than 18,000 TEUs and used to transport goods from Asia to northern Europe.