Bad weather has not only caused chaos across the Western Cape but also offshore, resulting in a ship running aground and another losing over 40 containers overboard as they sailed around the southern tip of Africa.
Also read: Filipino cargo ship grounds off Brand se Baai after crew rescue
On Thursday, French shipping group CMA CGM confirmed that the 400-metre-long CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin lost 44 containers due to strong weather conditions off the South African coast. Another 30 containers were damaged.
Inspections confirmed that all the containers lost at sea contained no harmless goods or dangerous cargo.
The vessel will proceed to Cape Town.
Also on Thursday, Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk said its MA CGM Masai Mara experienced delays into the Mother City. The schedules of three vessels, namely CMA CGM Masai Mara, CMA CGM Kribi and CMA CGM Lebu had to be revised.
The CMA CGM Lebu will be directed to Port Elizabeth, while the CMA CGM Masai Mara will berth in Cape Town around 17 July, about a week later than initially planned.
The CMA CGM Kribi will berth in Cape Town around 20 July, 7 days later than originally planned.
Last week, the vessel from which 18 Filipino crew members had to be rescued off the West Coast ran aground off the coast of Brand se Baai.
The MV Ultra Galaxy, a Panama-flagged cargo ship, was abandoned by its crew after it took on water due to bad weather approximately 60 nautical miles west of Doring Bay.
According to Africa Ports, a clean-up crew has arrived to address the ship’s lost cargo of fertiliser, which is now washing into the surf and onto the nearby beaches.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) resumed its port operations after suspending shipping movements at Eastern and Western Cape ports due to the bad weather on Wednesday, 10 July.
However, the Cape Town Container Terminal still experiences high swells and remains wind-bound.
TNPA is assessing the movements of smaller ships, as these can still be docked.
Also read:
Filipino ship crew members on life raft rescued off WC coast
Picture: Gina Tigere / Unsplash