Evergreen Marine, the ship’s owner, has declared General Average after two failed attempts to refloat the Ever Forward in the Chesapeake Bay.
The most recent attempt was made on Wednesday, intending to take advantage of a meteorological pattern that helped elevate tides by roughly a foot over usual. Unfortunately, the refloating attempt was unsuccessful, and the ship appeared to be stationary.
GA was declared “in light of the increasing costs arising from the continued attempts to refloat the vessel.” Evergreen stated in a statement.
The shipowner and cargo interests must share proportionately in the costs of rescuing a vessel following a major casualty, according to the principle of general average in maritime law. Cargo owners must contribute to a GA fund once GA is declared before their cargo can be released.
Following the Ever Given’s grounding in the Suez Canal, Evergreen declared General Average.
As it departed the Port of Baltimore with a pilot on board, the Ever Forward went aground outside the Craighill shipping channel in the Chesapeake Bay on March 13. When the ship exited the dredging channel and came to a stop in around 25 feet of water, the ship was traveling at roughly 13 knots, according to AIS. It had a draft of 13 meters, according to reports (42.6 feet).
Two clamshell dredgers have been removing dirt from the area surrounding the ship. There has been no work done to lighten the ship in terms of fuel, gas, or ballast water thus far.
Six tugs pulled from the stern during the refloating effort on Wednesday night. It came following a failed attempt to refloat the ship on Tuesday afternoon, which involved five tugboats. Both attempts failed.
Another effort is scheduled for April 3-4, according to officials. If that fails, the Coast Guard has stated that the removal of containers may be required.
Evergreen Marine (Hong Kong) Ltd., a subsidiary of Taiwanese shipping corporation Evergreen Marine Corporation, owns the 12,000 TEU capacity Ever Forward, which measures over 1,100 feet in length. Donjon-Smit has been assigned as the operation’s salvor.
