June 25, 2013
TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) updates the status of the containership MOL Comfort as of 23:00 JST (18:00 Dubai time) on June 24, 2013. The vessel could not continue sailing under its own power from June 17 because the hull fractured in 2 parts while under way on the Indian Ocean.
Safety inspection on sister vessels
We have started an investigation of the causes together with the shipbuilder, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (hereafter MHI). Although the cause of this incident has not been identified yet, MOL, together with MHI and the classification society (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, ClassNK), is arranging inspection of the all six sister vessels (*) as quickly as possible. This inspection is in addition to the one carried out by the crew during navigation. MOL also started operational precautions to reduce the stress on the hull as an interim contingency plan.
(*)MOL Creation, MOL Charisma, MOL Celebration, MOL Courage, MOL Competence, MOL Commitment
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the incident. We take the incident very seriously and continue to devote every effort to rectify the situation at the earliest possible moment. We will also conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause and take company-wide measures aimed at preventing reoccurrence of such incident in the future.