OOCL undergoing unscheduled maintenance due to engine failure

image courtesy: worldmaritimenews

The 1998-built containership OOCL Belgium is currently undergoing unscheduled maintenance in the port of Montreal, Canada, due to a possible issue with the vessel’s main engine. 

“The unscheduled maintenance work was recommended by the surveyor following a main engine inspection at the port of Montreal,”a representative from the Hong Kong-based container shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) told World Maritime News.

The 40,972 dwt boxship’s schedule is expected to be delayed by more than two weeks under the company’s Gateway Express 1 (GEX1) service.

OOCL said that, as a schedule recovery plan, it would phase in a replacement vessel, the 51,699 dwt MV Cap Harrisson, to the GEX1 service in Antwerp on June 16, which would conduct a single round voyage.

Featuring 39,174 gross tons, the 245-meter long OOCL Belgium previously encountered trouble when its propeller was damaged as the ship reportedly hit ice in the Strait of Belle Isle in February 2013.

At the time of the incident the 2,992 TEU vessel was on its way from Montreal to England.

In March 2013, OOCL Belgium arrived at Bremerhaven, Germany, where it underwent emergency dry dock.