On March 31, Evergreen Shipping issued an announcement saying that after two unsuccessful attempts to rescue the stranded “Ever Forward”, the ship was declared “General Average” (GA).

Evergreen stated in the announcement that considering the complexity of the follow-up rescue operations, it will continue to invest more manpower, equipment and expenses, and has assigned general average claims company Richards Hogg Lindley to handle general average related matters.

It hoped that the relevant cargo owners and the space affiliated companies would provide the necessary guarantee documents as soon as possible in accordance with the general average claim settlement rules, so that the relevant matters such as the delivery of the goods could be smoothly handled after the ship was rescued and the goods arrived at the port.

Evergreen also said that no one was injured in the grounding incident, neither the ship nor its cargo was damaged, nor did it cause pollution or obstruct the waterway. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the competent authorities.

According to the provisions of the Maritime Law, general average means that the shipowner and the cargo shipper shall share the relevant costs of salvaging the ship proportionally after the ship has a major accident during the voyage. After declaring general average, the shipper of the goods needs to make payment to the general average guarantee fund before the goods can be picked up.

As of the time Evergreen announced the general average, Donjon-Smit, a professional rescue company hired by Evergreen, was still assisting with the rescue work. Dredges continue to dredged around Ever Forward in preparation for the next rescue effort.

On March 13, local time, Ever Forward ran aground at a depth of about 25 feet (7.62 meters) outside the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore, United States.

The first rescue operation was carried out on the afternoon of March 29, local time, and five tugboats were used to help Ever Forward get out of trouble, but it was unsuccessful.

The second rescue operation was carried out on the evening of March 30, local time, using 6 tugboats and taking advantage of the high tide time on the east coast of the United States to raise the water level around the ship by about 0.5-1 feet higher than usual. Help Ever Forward re-float. But the rescue was unsuccessful.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the next rescue would be from April 3 to April 4 local time. If this is still unsuccessful, some of the containers loaded by Ever Forward may be transshipped.

Once the container is transferred, it means that the ship’s escape time will be delayed again, and the time for the loaded goods to reach the destination port will be further delayed.

Ever Forward is Evergreen’s 12,000TEU-class F-type container ship with a length of about 334 meters and a width of 48.4 meters. It can load 12,118TEU, with an average draft of 13 meters and a design speed of 24.1 knots.

The shipping schedule on Evergreen’s official website shows that Ever Forward is currently deployed on the Asia-US East route, calling at ports including Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cologne, Savannah, New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore. The vessel was en route from Baltimore to Norfolk at the time of the accident and was scheduled to arrive at Xiamen on April 16.

Last year, Ever Given, another large container ship owned by Evergreen, ran aground in the Suez Canal for six days and declared general average at the time.

Some people in the industry said that the stranded situation of Ever Forward is different from that of Ever Given. Ever Given is a run aground at the bow and stern, and then escaped by high-powered dredgers, large salvage tugs and massive high tides. Ever Forward is a complete grounding of the hull, and the lack of external conditions in the rescue work of Ever Given makes the rescue more difficult.

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Coast Guard said on April 4, local time, that after two unsuccessful rescues with the Maryland Department of the Environment, Evergreen Shipping and the designated rescue company Donjon-Smit, a new plan was developed and will begin Transshipment of containers loaded on Ever Forward.

It is reported that after it was determined that Ever Forward could not get out of trouble due to the current carrying situation, the rescue company Donjon-Smit proposed a transfer plan, which would create the best chance for Ever Forward to re-float.

According to the plan, the container transfer operation will use two crane vessels to lift the containers from the port and starboard sides of Ever Forward, transfer them to the barge, and then transport the containers back to the Port of Baltimore. Meanwhile, dredgers will continue to operate until the channel is excavated to a depth of 43 feet (13.1 meters).

It is understood that Ever Forward is currently carrying about 5,000 containers and only some of them are expected to be transshipped. Transfer operations will begin as soon as the 2 crane vessels are in place. During the operation, the Craighill Channel will maintain one-way traffic and maintain a 500-yard (approximately 457.2 m) operational safety zone around the vessel.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the program is expected to operate for two weeks, but may also be adjusted based on weather conditions and other uncertainties. For safety reasons, transfer operations are expected to take place during the day.

It is understood that Ever Forward’s next rescue operation is expected to take place on April 15.

At present, in addition to the rescue team regularly detecting the fuel tanks and ballast tanks of the Ever Forward to ensure the stability of the hull and monitoring possible signs of contamination, ship engineers and salvage experts are also remotely monitoring the state of the ship for continuous assessment. Hull stability and integrity until the ship is released.

On March 13, local time, Ever Forward ran aground at a depth of about 25 feet (7.62 meters) outside the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore, United States. As of April 6, the ship had been stranded for more than three weeks. During this period, the rescue team made two attempts to help the ship escape, but were unsuccessful.

Ever Forward is Evergreen’s 12,000TEU-class F-type container ship with a length of about 334 meters and a width of 48.4 meters. It can load 12,118TEU, with an average draft of 13 meters and a design speed of 24.1 knots.

The shipping schedule on Evergreen’s official website shows that Ever Forward is currently deployed on the Asia-US East route, calling at ports including Xiamen, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Cologne, Savannah, New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore. The vessel was en route from Baltimore to Norfolk at the time of the accident and was scheduled to arrive at Xiamen on April 16.