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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2005 
Tugboats Work On Container Ship Stuck Off Ensenada
 Sandra Dibble - Union-Tribune
| | The Panama, a container vessel on a trans-Pacific route, ran aground Christmas Day outside Ensenada. It was expected to continue its journey after tugboats worked yesterday to pull it off a shallow sandy bottom near shore. (Tonathiu Anda Padilla) |
A container vessel on a trans-Pacific route that ran aground Christmas Day outside Ensenada was expected to continue its journey after tugboats worked yesterday to pull it off a shallow sandy bottom near shore.
The Panama, chartered by the global container transportation company APL, had left Oakland and ran aground as it prepared to enter the city's harbor before continuing on to other stops in Mexico and Asia.
An official with Ensenada's port said the crew apparently failed to follow port rules and seek pilot service before entering the port's access channel.
"The first reports mention that the captain didn't follow those basic rules," said Juan Carlos Ochoa, marketing director for the port of Ensenada. "There's a specific point where the pilots of the port go and take the ship, but they didn't stop at that point."
None of the 25 crew members was injured, Ochoa said, and the vessel did not appear seriously damaged. Officials found no fuel leaks or anything else that might harm the environment.
APL's parent company is the Singapore-based NOL group. The Panama is one of six container vessels that follow a route from Oakland to Japan, Taiwan and China. APL schedules a stop in Ensenada each Sunday.
The Panama is carrying 900 containers, Ochoa said. It measures 885 feet and has a draft of 36 feet and weighs 40,000 tons, he said.
Jennifer Bronson, a spokeswoman for APL at the company's Oakland offices, said the containers typically carry electronic components related to the maquiladora industry.
Two 500-horsepower tugboats were sent from the port of Los Angeles and Bronson said the vessel was expected to be freed late yesterday.
"We anticipate the tugs will come and tug it off the sandy bottom and the ship will proceed to Ensenada," he said.
Ochoa, the port official, said the vessel, stranded some 300 feet offshore, became something of a curiosity as residents went to photograph and stare.
"It's like a big whale with boxes," he said. |
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