After the ship left Baltimore on March 13, the Ever Forward ran aground. For the common interests of cargo owners and the safety of all involved, Evergreen Shipping has been making every effort to refloat the stranded ship. Evergreen declared general average on April 17, given the increased cost of continued attempts to re-float the vessel. There have been no reports of injuries or contamination.
Ever Forward, a 12,000 TEU container ship owned by Evergreen Shipping (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Evergreen Shipping Group, ran aground in Chesapeake Bay after leaving Baltimore on the evening of March 13. No casualties have been reported to the ship or its cargo. , and there are no signs of fuel leaks or contamination.
Dredgers have been digging around the stranded container ship, and groups of tugboats made two unsuccessful attempts to pull the 1,095-foot vessel out of the silt last week.
Under new plans announced by the Coast Guard, cranes will be used to remove some of the containers from the "long haul" to reduce their weight before the next rescue effort. The lifting operation will start as soon as a crane with the right lifting height is installed. Meanwhile, the dredger will continue to dig to a depth of 43 feet around the vessel. During these operations, the fairway will remain one-way traffic and a 500-yard safety zone will remain around the vessel.
Salvage experts determined that in their current state of loading, they would not be able to overcome the gravity of the "long-range wheel". The new program offers the best chance of successfully relaunching the long haul. ' said the Coast Guard.
Containers will be unloaded from the port and starboard sides of the 12,000TEU container ship and placed on a barge, which will transport the containers to the Seagrit Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore and unload them. The ship is currently carrying 4,964 general dry cargo containers, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard said that for safety reasons, lifting operations can only be carried out during the day.
Once the required number of containers has been removed, another re-float attempt will be made using tugboats and pulling barges.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the plan calls for the removal of several hundred of the 4,964 containers on the long-haul ship, with most of the cargo remaining on board. Since the shipowner Evergreen Shipping has declared general average, the shipper needs to provide the necessary guarantees and documents to the general average adjustment company before the container cargo shipped to the Seagirt terminal can be recovered.
