Maersk Eureka Arrives in Long Beach a Month After Engine Breakdown in Pacific

A Maersk containership has berthed in Long Beach, California more than a month after its engine broke down the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The MV Maersk Eureka was underway from Asia to Long Beach when it was forced to shut off its main engine on March 12 to replace a damaged fuel pump. The ship was first able to continue, but the engine again had to be shut off two days, leaving the 366-meter-long ship adrift for weeks before an ocean-going tug from Dutch Harbor, Alaska arrived with replacement parts.

Maersk reported March 30 that Maersk Eureka was located some 650 miles off Dutch Harbor and the tug had just arrived at the vessel. On March 31, Maersk reported that repairs were successful and the Maersk Eureka was undergoing sea trials before continues its voyage to Long Beach.

An update from Maersk on Monday said the vessel has now safely berthed at the TTI terminal at the Port of Long Beach.

Maersk said no cargo was damaged in the incident, quashing fears of more cargo loss in the transpacific.

Built in 2012, Maersk Eureka has a cargo capacity of 13,100 twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEU) and is registered in Singapore.

The vessel is operated on Maersk’s Transpacific 3/MSC’s Sequoia service connecting Ningbo and Shanghai, China with Long Beach, although on this voyage the ship made an inducement call in Yokohama, Japan prior to setting sail across the Pacific.  

The Maersk Eureka incident was at least the third involving a Maersk ship on the trans-pacific this year. Previously, the Maersk Essen and Maersk Eindenhoven each lost hundreds of containers overboard after encountering severe weather during recent voyages across the Pacific in January and February, respectively. In the case of the Maersk Eindhoven, the cargo loss occurred after ship’s main engine briefly shut down due to a safety feature triggered by low engine oil pressure.

During the Maersk Eureka ordeal, it seems the weather was mostly favorable except for perhaps one system around which Maersk addressed in a March 24th update:

“While there is currently rough weather still expected in the next 3-5 days, the Eureka and her cargo onboard are maintaining stability through minor swells. At this time, the vessel operators have confirmed the ship is holding steady and there are no concerns at this time. We continue to monitor and take actions to prevent any cargo loss.”

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