EC5 Service - MV Yantian Express (voyage 108E) – Update No.10
As you would be aware, MV “Yantian Express” suffered a major fire that has resulted in both the vessel and a proportion of the cargo becoming either fire- or water damaged.
Hapag-Lloyd AG has engaged salvors SMIT Salvage Americas, LLC under a Lloyds Open Form contract (LOF). On termination of the services under the LOF, the Salvors are entitled to retain the cargo until salvage security is provided.
In order to expedite the collection of salvage security and to facilitate on-carriage of cargo to destination, Salvors have now set an early security demand, as attached. Further you will find an up-date on the General Average security demand, latest salvage declaration details, a Salvage Guarantee Form and an overview on frequently asked questions (FAQ).
The vessel is actually at a yard in Freeport, Bahamas designated exclusively to receive the distressed containers/cargo. The reason for that are security, health, safety and environmental considerations.
The Port Authority is monitoring the preparation of the site and is yet to give their final approval to start discharge operations, which is expected to be received in the next few days.
We are in close contact with the local authorities to be able to start discharging of the distressed containers soonest. We hope to receive permission to commence this operation shortly and based on the information currently available, we expect the discharge to take approximate two months.
With respect to containers and cargoes which are considered unaffected by the fire incident, and are in a dry and sound condition, we are currently exploring the options and shall advise further on this aspect as soon as feasible.
For all other information, we invite you to call our dedicated hotline directly at the following telephone number:
+ 1 833-445-6397
We shall keep you closely informed on further developments.
Disclaimer
As per current status, vessel arrived at Freeport, Bahamas (port of refuge) on February 4, 2019. We will obviously have more detailed/precise information once the extent of damages onboard the vessel has been fully assessed and will provide updates in due course. For the avoidance of doubt, the above statements and comments are: (I) non-conclusive, subject to change and being provided for informational purposes only, and (II) given without prejudice to or waiver of any rights, remedies, defenses, and limitations contained in the relevant underlying contracts of carriage as evidenced by Hapag-Lloyd AG’s standard Bill of Lading and/or Sea Waybill and the Hapag-Lloyd Tariff applicable thereto and/or any other applicable agreement governing the carriage of the subject cargo, or any cargo carried on board the vessel at the time of the incident, as the case may be, all of which said terms and conditions continue to remain in full force and effect, without any modification or waiver.
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