Drone Footage Gives New View of ONE Apus Damage

Some new drone footage shot as the ONE Apus was arriving in Japan last week gives us the first aerial view of the extent of damage on the deck of the ship after its historic cargo loss in the Pacific Ocean.

The video was commissioned by W K Webster & Co., a leading global marine and transit claims consultancy.

The owners and managers of the containership estimate that 1,816 containers were lost overboard when the ONE Apus encountered severe weather as it sailed towards Long Beach, California on November 30.

The number of containers damaged but remaining on deck is yet to be determined, but these images (and what we’ve seen already) show that the number is likely to be significant.

“It can be seen that there are 22 bays on deck of which 16 have collapsed to both port and starboard, leaving only 6 intact / partially intact. With 20 rows of containers per bay and with stack heights of between 6 and 8 containers, we anticipate that approximately 2,250 containers have been lost or damaged. It will also be noted that the very vast majority appear to be 40 foot units and therefore equivalent to approximately 4,500 TEU,” said a spokesperson for W K Webster.

To put this in perspective, ONE Apus has a capacity of a little more than 14,000 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, so if 4,500 TEU were lost or damaged, it means that more than a third of the ship’s entire cargo could be impacted by this incident.

At this time, the ship remains berthed in the Port of Kobe as cargo operations take place.

“The careful removal of the dislodged units under a schedule formulated by stowage planners is expected to take over a month with safety the number one priority. Once unloaded, each will be assessed, and when the discharge of cargo is complete, there will be a full assessment of damage to the vessel and subsequent repairs,” the owners and managers said in the latest update, issued Dec. 11.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.