MSC Boxship Gets Emergency Tow to Las Palmas
Over the weekend, Spanish first responders rescued a disabled MSC boxship that was adrift just off Gran Canaria, according to the Salvamento Maritimo rescue service.
On Saturday, the 1,000 TEU feeder MSC Talia F broke down about eight nautical miles to the east of Punta Melenara, Gran Canaria. The vessel was drifting south at about two knots, parallel to shore. Winds were NNE at about 25-30 knots, with rough seas, but the response crew got the small container ship in tow and brought her safely to Las Palmas. The boxship resumed her commercial voyage on Monday and is back under way.
Images courtesy Salvamento Maritimo
MSC Talia F is a 12,000 dwt feeder built in 2005. She is owned in Liberia and operated by MSC, the world's largest container liner. Her most recent inspections were conducted last year, and found issues with corrosion and piping - none serious enough to warrant a detention.
It is second breakdown involving an older boxship in two months for MSC. The company expanded its fleet rapidly during the late-pandemic era by acquiring or keeping older tonnage, avoiding scrap sales and paying well for used boxships that would not have commanded high prices a few years earlier.
In February, the 2003-built MSC Baltic III lost power and drifted aground on the west coast of Newfoundland in a winter storm, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The vessel is still aground on a rocky ledge, and small quantities of tar balls have been found on nearby shores.