Following the news of the MOL Comfort container vessel’s structural failure and subsequent recovery attempt last week, the aft section of the ship has now sunk in the Indian Ocean. 1700 containers were carried on this half of the vessel and no further salvage operations will be possible due to the adverse weather conditions and 4000m water depth. This provides a serious logistical challenge for automotive companies with parts aboard the vessel.
“A number of OEMs and Tier 1s had containers aboard the MOL Comfort,” says Evolution Time Critical managing director, Brad Brennan. “These companies are now faced with trying to determine if their cargo has sunk with the aft section of the ship, or if it is still being recovered to the Arabian Gulf. Manufacturers may have to reorder supplies from source and face costly breaks in production unless a plan b is in place. The challenge now is to obtain accurate knowledge in order to implement contingency plans.”
Poor weather has been blamed for the aft section of the ship’s continued water ingress during the recovery attempt and, although some containers remain afloat, 1500 metric tons of fuel oil are estimated to be aboard the sunken tanks. No large volume leaks have so far been reported.
