Madrid Bridge Docks in Charleston After Container Collapse

The MV Madrid Bridge docked at the Port of Charleston overnight where it is expected to undergo cargo discharge operations after suffering a container collapse mishap in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.

AIS ship tracking from MarineTraffic.com. shows the ship berthed at about 11 p.m. Monday night at the port’s Hugh K. Leatherman terminal, where the ship is expected to discharge damaged containers and any Charleston-bound import containers.

The MV Madrid Bridge is reported to have lost some 60 containers overboard and another 80 collapsed on deck while on passage in the Atlantic Ocean from Singapore to New York back on January 7. Rather than proceeding to New York as planned, the ship was instead re-routed to Charleston, skipping its Norfolk, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia port calls.

An initial investigation seen by The Loadstar and reported Tuesday is providing more details into the incident. According to The Loadstar, Madrid Bridge had begun idling on Jan. 2 south of the Azores to delay its arrival in New York. But days later, on Jan. 7, the idling vessel was hit by a “large swell” and “22-knot winds” which led to the container collapse. An updated count indicates a total of 65 containers were lost overboard with a further 89 said to be damaged on deck.

Weather products from NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center from around the time of the Jan. 7 accident shows a 954 mb hurricane-force low over the central North Atlantic, far to the north from the location of the Madrid Bridge at the time, with associated significant wave heights of up to 13 meters.

Photos posted previously by gCaptain, after the vessel arrived at the Charleston Anchorage, shows two bays of containers collapsed, including one forward and one aft of the accommodation.

The 2018-built Madrid Bridge is operated on Ocean Network Express’ East Coast 4 (EC4) Service. The ship has a capacity of 13,900 TEU and is registered in Japan.

The ship’s owner, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line), said earlier there no injuries and no loss of containers with dangerous cargo.

A timeframe for the cargo operations has not been provided.