The 879-foot-long cargo ship Efficiency rolled 30 degrees to port and starboard for 90 seconds in gale-force winds off the coast of Australia before 81 containers washed overboard in the middle of the night, according to a new report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The Liberian-flagged Efficiency was en route from Taiwan to Port Botany, just below Sydney. It was delayed from docking for eight hours, according to the new report, while the crew stopped and restarted the main engine for brief periods of time to control the drift. At this point, the ship was 16 nm off Newcastle, which is north of Sydney.
As recounted in this story from ABC News, at 12:30 a.m. the ship suffered “a period of quick, heavy rolling for about 60 to 90 seconds.” The ship’s master estimated rolling angles of up to 30 degrees, both port and starboard. The second officer reported “loud noises on deck.” When the crew turned the deck lights on, they realized that containers had been lost overboard.
The next morning, in daylight, the master found that 81 containers had been lost, and another 62 were damaged. Subsequently, debris was found over a broad area. Two containers washed up on shore. A hydrographic survey vessel located 50 containers on the ocean floor.
When the Efficiency finally docked in Port Botany, officials found that 324 containers exceeded the weight limits set in the ship’s securing manual. For more:
