Interim Report on MOL COMFORT Casualty Released

Following the loss of the container vessel MOL COMFORT on 17 June 2013, ClassNK established a special Casualty Investigation Team in order to investigate and determine the cause of the casualty.

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) further established a Committee on Large Container Ship Safety to develop measures to ensure the safety of large container vessels on 29 August 2013. ClassNK serves as a member of the Committee and the ClassNK Casualty Investigation Team is actively involved in its deliberative and investigative work.

The Committee on Large Container Ship Safety completed its Interim Report on the MOL Comfort casualty during its fourth meeting on 12 December 2013, and released the report to the public on 17 December 2013. English excerpts of the report are available on MLIT’s website.

In line with Interim Report, the ClassNK Casualty Investigation Team will continue to carry out numerical simulations of hull strength and acting loads, as well as conduct full-scale stress measurements of actual ships in order to develop comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of large container vessels, including potential amendments to existing classification rules related to hull structures.

The Casualty Investigation Team will also work closely with the International Association of Classification Societies’ (IACS) newly established large container ship safety project team to ensure that findings from the casualty investigation are reflected in IACS regulatory work.