General Average Declared for Containership After Engine Room Fire

The 94,407 gross tonne Northern Jupiter. Photo: MarineTraffic.com / Hannes van Rijn

The owner of the Ocean Network Express containership has declared general average following an engine room fire in the Malacca Straits in early January, ONE Line said in a notice to its customers.

The vessel, Northern Juptiter, was sailing from Singapore to Port Klang when it experienced a main engine room fire on January 4, 2020. The fire was extinguished, but the main engine suffered damage.

Following the incident, the Northern Jupiter anchored in Malacca Straits as it awaited approval from Malaysia Maritime Authorities for the vessel to be towed back to Singapore.

The vessel reached a Singapore anchorage on January 14 for a for detailed inspection to assess the extent of damage and further plan. On January 17, the owner of the vessel declared General Average.

The Portuguese-flagged Northern Jupiter was built in 2010. It is deployed on ONE’s AU1 service, connecting Australia with ports in South Asia.

General Average requires that the shipowner and its customers share a proportionate amount of the costs associated with saving a vessel after a major casualty. When General Average is declared, cargo owners are required to contribute to a GA fund before cargo can be released.

ONE said the owners have appointed Stichling Hahn Hilbrich (Hamburg & London) as Average Adjusters.

“They will be arranging for the collection of General Average securities from parties concerned in cargo, containers and bunkers,” ONE’s statement said.

“The Average Adjusters are preparing the necessary instructions to the parties concerned in cargo as well as Average Bond and Average Guarantee forms which are to be completed and signed by cargo interests. We are informed that this information will be distributed shortly and can be downloaded from their website.

“It is highly recommended that you inform your cargo insurers of this development, as soon as possible,” the statement added.

Northern Jupiter remained at anchor near Singapore as of Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

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