Maersk Essen Discharging Cargo in Los Angeles

Nearly two months after losing hundreds of containers overboard in the Pacific Ocean, the Maersk-operated containership Maersk Essen is finally discharging its cargo at its original destination at the Port of Los Angeles.

Maersk reports that Maersk Essen arrived at its berth at APM Terminals Pier 400 Los Angeles on March 4 to discharge all cargo. An update on Tuesday said a number containers bound for inland destinations have already departed on rail while others remaining local have been picked up from the terminal.

Maersk Essen lost approximately 750 containers overboard after it experiencing heavy weather while en route from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles, California on January 16, 2021.

To avoid southern California port congestion, the ship diverted to APM Terminals in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, to remove damage containers and make minor repairs to the vessel.

The Maersk Essen is a 13,100 TEU capacity containership sailing on Maersk’s weekly TP6 Asia/US West coast service. About a month after the incident, another ship on the TP6 string, the Maersk Eindhoven, lost approximately 260 containers overboard in a similar weather-related incident off the coast of Japan.

Maersk is currently targeting a departure date of March 11 for Maersk Essen to return to Asia to resume its regular TP6 service.

Maersk Eindhoven departed APM Terminals in Yokohama, Japan on March 2 after operations there to remove damaged and dislodged containers. The ship is currently underway to Los Angeles.

Subscribe for Daily Maritime Insights

Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update

— trusted by our 109,082 members