Hapag-Lloyd, ONE Warn Most Cargo Lost in Massive Containership Fire

Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express (ONE) are warning customers that most of the cargo aboard the fire-damaged containership Espirito Santo Express is likely severely damaged or a total loss, more than two weeks after a fire broke out aboard the vessel in the South Atlantic.

In separate customer advisories, both shipping companies said they had received information from vessel owner Seaspan indicating that the vast majority of cargo may be beyond recovery.

“Based on the latest information received via the vessel owner Seaspan we expect the vast majority of the cargo to be either severely damaged by the fire or a total loss,” Hapag-Lloyd said in its latest update.

The fire is now under control, but the vessel has yet to reach a port of refuge, where the full extent of the damage can be assessed. Hapag-Lloyd warned that getting the ship to safety and inspecting the cargo will take considerable time.

ONE issued a similar warning, confirming the assessment from Seaspan. The vessel was operating on ONE’s East Coast South America Express 1 (SX1) service.

For customers with cargo aboard, the outlook is grim, although the condition of individual containers remains unknown. Hapag-Lloyd said it will contact customers whose shipments may be salvageable to arrange cargo surveys once the vessel reaches port and an initial damage assessment is completed.

The 11,800-TEU Espirito Santo Express, a Singapore-flagged containership built in 2018 and chartered by Hapag-Lloyd from Seaspan, caught fire on October 15 while sailing from Singapore to Santos, Brazil.

According to an October 22 statement from Seaspan, smoke and then flames were observed coming from cargo in a bay forward of the vessel’s accommodation block.

All 28 crew members abandoned ship and were rescued by the Portuguese-flagged bulk carrier Aeolian Arrow. The rescue, however, was marked by tragedy when the bulk carrier’s chief officer fell overboard while its rescue boat was being recovered. He disappeared beneath the water and could not be recovered, according to Portuguese maritime accident investigators.

Firefighting and salvage operations continued in the days that followed. As recently as October 22, Hapag-Lloyd said the extent of the damage remained unknown and it could not determine the condition of individual shipments.

The latest warnings from Hapag-Lloyd and ONE provide the clearest indication yet of the scale of the losses, although a full assessment will have to wait until the ship reaches a port of refuge.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and neither carrier has provided a timeline for when the vessel might reach port.

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