The 2,992 TEU container ship, OOCL Belgium was caught in the middle of
the North Atlantic this week experiencing first-hand winter storm
Hercules, a huge low pressure system that forecasters say could be
creating waves of over 20 meters tall. Those are the type of rolls where
you look out the port or starboard bridge wing and see nothing but the
waves directly next to the ship, and then the next moment, all you see
is sky while you try to hang on to something. And in some cases serious
damage happens to the ship. Actually in this case, unconfirmed reports
indicate the the OOCL Belgium may have sustained some cracking and she
is currently being inspected in Liverpool.
The Skagen Maersk is 110.387-dwt Denmark-flagged containership, built in
1999 in Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd., Denmark. The ship has the capacity
to transfer cargo of 6600 twenty-foot equivalent units. The vessel is
owned and managed by MAERSK LINE A/S.
