Owner: 1.5 Meter Crack Discovered in Hull of MSC Monterey Containership

Image: JRCC Halifax

Some new details have emerged today about the condition of the MSC Monterey containership which suffered a crack in its hull while underway in adverse conditions off the coast of Newfoundland, sparking concerns of her sinking.

A statement from the ship’s owner, Germany’s REEDEREI NSB, said that Liberian-flagged vessel was underway Friday from Antwerp to Boston when crews discovered a 1.5 meter crack in the main deck near the superstructure while southeast of Newfoundland. The statement said that the crack later grew by 30 centimeters into the outer hull, prompting crews to coordinate with the Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada.

Previous: MSC Monterey Suffers Crack Off Canada 

Four people from the United States and Switzerland, who were riding as passengers on the vessel, requested to be evacuated and were safely airlifted from the vessel on Sunday.

The 20 crewmembers, from Europe and Philippines, remained onboard and the vessel was later anchored in the bay of Cape Pine, NL.

REEDEREI NSB says that at this time the vessel does not pose a danger to the environment and the crack has not resulted in an oil spillage or other hazards.

The MSC Monterey is expected to proceed from Cape Pine to St. Mary’s Bay on Monday morning, where a surveyor from class society Germanischer Lloyd, along with a naval architect and insurance representative, will board the vessel for inspection. REEDEREI NSB says the plan is to provide provisional repairs so that the vessel can continue to Boston as planned.

The MSC Monterey was built in 2007 at Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries in Romania and has a TEU capacity of 4,870.

The vessel, which is managed by Mediterranean Shipping Company, is engaged in regular transatlantic liner service between Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp and Le Havre and U.S. East Coast ports. MSC Monterey was expected to call at Boston in early January, followed by New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk and Baltimore.

REEDEREI NSB also happened to own the MSC Flaminia, which caught fire in 2012 while underway in the north Atlantic.