According to the claims consultancy WK Webster, the 13,100 Teu Maersk Essen was halfway through the Pacific bound for Los Angeles when it lost up to 750 containers on January 16.

As well as the boxes lost during the storm overboard, several containers have sunk and been destroyed, and when the ship docks in California, they will need to be removed and repositioned.

In a statement on the Danish flagged vessel, Maersk reported the incident: “All crew members are safe and a detailed cargo assessment is ongoing while the vessel continues on her journey. The US Coast Guard, flag state and relevant authorities have been notified.” 

This winter, incidents of containers lost overboard, especially in the Pacific, have jumped. A few days ago, on a chartered boxing ship, ER Tianping, which made its way from South Korea to the U.S., Israel's carrier ZIM lost 76 boxes.

On December 31, after the vessel experienced extreme weather off the coast of Japan, the Evergreen Marine containership, Ever Liberal, lost 36 containers on the side.

In Kobe, meanwhile, operations are expected to continue for several weeks to unload the hundreds of mangled containers on the ONE Apus. The Japanese boxing ship experienced the greatest container loss seen for seven years when on 30 November it struck a serious storm cell in the middle of the Pacific.

Maritime Business World