OnFriday at 22:00 CET the 15,500-teu Emma Maersk (built 2006) became disabled afterit experiencedan ingress of water into the engine room.
Maersk Line officials tell TradeWinds that the vessel hadjust commenced its southbound voyage through the Suez Canal en route to Asia.
“Shortly before loss of power, the captain decidedto abort the planned voyage and go alongside the nearby Suez Canal ContainerTerminal (SCCT),” Maersk Line said.
“Following the loss of power tugs were requested to towthe vessel to the terminal. The vessel went alongside at 01:00 CET on 2February.”
Maersk Line said the initial assessment was that thevessel was not at any time in any danger of sinking, nor was the crew at anytime in danger.
However, the main engine lost power and the vessel wasnot able to sail on its own. Further investigations by divers will be initiatedto establish the exact cause.
Maersk Line said the vessel remains alongside at SCCT andwork on discharging the containers has begun. The crew is safe and there are nosigns of pollution.
Suez Canal traffic remained unaffected during theincident an official at the canal told the state-run MENA news agency.
Emma Mærsk was the first container ship in the eightstrong E-class. When she was launched in 2006, Emma Mærsk was the largestcontainer ship ever built
