The boxship MV Madrid Bridge, operated by ONE, suffered a container collapse and loss in the North Atlantic Ocean on its way to the port of New York/Newark, rerouting to the port of Charleston for repairs and to offload remaining damaged containers. The ship, which departed from Singapore and transited the Suez Canal, likely hit weather that caused the loss of about 60 containers and damaged a further 80 on the deck, according to the Japanese liner.

Container ships use a method of stacking that connects each container to the ones above and below it, which can lead to progressive collapses like this if part of the structure fails. Making a dash to Charleston to fix the damage was expected as the vessel is no stranger to the port. Calls at the port of Charleston discharged 8,353 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2021, up from 2,035 TEU in 2020, making the site third The port of New York/Newark, the intended destination, reported 17,295 TEU in 2021, while the port of Savannah posted 11,438 TEU in the same period. Stopping along the route, although early, was more likely to get more goods delivered on time with the use of inland networks. Regardless, the accident will likely not help ONE, whose imports in December 2021 fell by 24.0% year over year.

Chart shows imports associated with the MV Madrid Bridge by port of lading on a yearly basis. Source: Panjiva

Potential consequences from the incident could affect Expeditors, which has imported 7,121 TEU on the Madrid Bridge since January 2020, along with UPS and Geodis, which has imported 1,795 TEU and 1,205 TEU, respectively. Other companies that have shipped goods on the vessel in the same period include The Home Depot Inc. with 584 TEU; Samsung with 358 TEU; and Bob’s Discount Furniture with 598 TEU. One aspect these companies will likely watch out for is ONE’s declaration of a general loss, an announcement that all cargo owners on the vessel will have to share in the cost of the lost shipment. The declaration is designed to allow the ship to discharge cargo if necessary to save the craft while adding costs, on top of a delay, for shippers.

Chart shows imports associated with the MV Madrid Bridge by company on a yearly basis. Source: Panjiva