ABTRACT- LOSS OF CONTAINERS OVERBOARD FROM YM EFFICIENCY

This abstract is based on the investigation report by ASTB on the loss of containers overboard in
container vessel YM Efficiency at a location in east-south-east of Newcastle, New South Wales on 01
June 2018.

On 13 March 2018, the container vessel YM Efficiency left the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan with 2249 cargo
containers. The destination was Sydney, New South Wales and was scheduled to arrive at the port
0200hrs EST on 31 May. During the transit ship’s agent informed that port entry is delayed by 8hrs, so
the master decided to drift the vessel in order to adjust the delayed schedule. When the vessel reached a
position in the east-south-east of Newcastle it was received by unfavorable weather conditions, the
vessel rolled quickly, possibly a mammoth wave hitting on the vessel’s side resulting in some damages.
When the weather conditions subsided damage assessment was conducted and found that from aft of
the accommodation 81 containers were thrown overboard and 62 containers were damaged. Also, the
vessel’s structural components such as accommodation ladder, lashing bridges and superstructure were
also damaged. The accident caused lots of debris washing ashore the beaches of New South Wales. In
the investigation report published by ASTB the main reasons pointing towards the incident were:

 When the master decided to drift the vessel, the beam-on drifting position in the adverse
environmental conditions cause synchronous rolling and this will exert enormous stress on the
containers and its securing systems. This would have caused the structural failure and resulting
in containers thrown overboard.
 The decision to drift the vessel in such hazardous weather conditions are contradictory for a
good seamanship as this can weaken various structural systems causing a potential hazard.
 The load distribution for the containers and its lashing system in the aft of the accommodation
were to be evaluated and was found to be not complying with the allowable force limit
requirements in the ship’s Cargo Securing Manual. This would have constituted as a potential
reason for the accident in the harsh sea condition.
 The ship’s officers and cargo planning done ashore by the shipping company personnel’s did not
inspect whether the intended container stowage plan complied with the prerequisite provided in
the ship’s Cargo Securing Manual using loading computer system and the lashing calculation
program. This points the inconsistent responsibility of officers towards the execution of their
duties and obligation.
 It is necessary to check the CSM compliance way before sailing but the decision to check CSM
compliance by the deck officers was made at the last moment probably due to additional
workload for limited personnel’s available onboard, this however results in limited options to
execute any changes without affecting the logistic operations.

Furthermore, with analyzing the case, I would like to provide my observations related to the loss of cargo
of the vessel. In this portfolio, a comprehensive assessment to validate the reasons for the loss of
containers overboard will be done. Safe and effective container stowage planning will be analyzed as it
remains the primary control measure in managing the risks involved in carrying containers by sea. The
analysis also likes to include weather forecasting, routing, and good navigational practices to reduce the
chances of such accidents occurring further.