On July 11, CMA CGM officially released a notice about an accident involving a container ship sailing at sea.
On July 9, 2024, a container ship named "CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" operated by CMA CGM encountered extremely severe weather conditions while crossing the South African waters during its voyage from Asia (it had called at a Chinese port and carried Chinese goods) to Europe.
This sudden weather condition directly caused 44 containers on the ship to fall into the sea due to severe sea conditions and be declared lost. At the same time, another 30 containers suffered varying degrees of physical damage under the influence of extreme weather. CMA CGM responded quickly and informed the public of this unfortunate incident through a statement.
CMA CGM Statement
The "CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" container ship was built in December 2015, flying the Malta flag, with its port of registry in Valletta. The ship has a capacity of 17,859 TEUs, a length of 399.2 meters and a width of 54 meters.
The CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN container ship's AIS signal shows it is sailing along the East Cape, south of Durban and north of London East. Weather forecasters have warned that strong waves in the West Cape area near Cape Town are expected to form and move eastward. A strong wave warning has been issued for areas around Durban.
Reports from the Ports and Maritime Authority say gusts are as high as 35 to 50 knots nearby. Other reports say wave heights are between 12 and 20 feet.
The CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN container ship is heading to Cape Town for a full inspection. The ship is still seaworthy, there is no serious damage, no crew members were injured, and there was no pollution (except for the 44 boxes that fell into the sea).
CMA CGM said in a statement: "It has been assessed that all containers lost at sea contained harmless cargo and did not contain any dangerous goods."
Cargo owners and freight forwarders with shipments on this vessel must closely monitor the shipping company's notifications to stay informed about any cargo loss, damage, and delays.
