ONE Apus finally sails from Japan

By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent

OSAKA BAY — ONE Apus recently returned to the sea after departing a port of refuge in Kobe, Japan, during a period of recovery and repair. Ocean Network Express (ONE), the ship’s operator, said that the vessel departed Kobe, and she is estimated to arrive at the Port of Long Beach by the end of the month. She departed Kobe with a partial load, notes ONE.

ONE issued a customer advisory on March 16, 2021, announcing that the Apus will likely face congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach via the San Pedro Bay, off California’s coast in the United States. ONE Apus might not be able to berth until April 7.

“As advised, while the general plan was to back-load as many original sound and transloaded containers on ONE Apus as reasonably possible, there are some containers originally carried on ONE Apus may need to be carried on different vessels due to safety and/or operational constraints, or where the required documentation could not be completed in time for ONE Apus,” notes the customer advisory.

“For such cases, affected customers [have] been informed and will be advised subsequently by our sales representatives regarding their alternative arrangement.”

The ONE Apus was originally underway from China to Long Beach when it lost about 1,816 containers overboard in extremely heavy weather, approximately 1,600 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii, on November 30, 2020. Hundreds of containers were collapsed on the deck. The Maritime Executive reports that Apus arrived in Kobe on December 8 for repairs and to dislodge damaged containers.