“General Average” Declared On Massive Container Ship Stranded In Chesapeake Bay 

Evergreen Marine, the owner of the massive container ship, Ever Forward, stuck in the Chesapeake Bay, declared “General Average” after multiple unsuccessful refloating attempts, according to maritime news website gCaptain

The latest refloating attempt took place last Wednesday and was unsuccessful even though tides in the Chesapeake Bay, just outside of Baltimore, were about a foot higher than average. 

“Evergreen Line has been making every effort to refloat the stranded ship on behalf of the common interests of cargo owners and the safety of all involved,” Evergreen Marine said in a statement on Thursday.

It added: “In light of the increasing costs arising from the continued attempts to refloat the vessel, Evergreen declared General Average today.”

Declarations of General Average require all parties, including the shipowner and cargo owners, to bear some responsibility in the refloating process. If readers remember, Evergreen also declared General Average about a year ago when another of its vessels, the Ever Given, ran aground in the Suez Canal. 

Ever Forward ran aground on March 13 after it veered off the course of a shipping channel outside the Port of Baltimore and came to a dead stop in about 25 feet of water. The vessel’s draft is 42.6 feet, outlining that the ship is seriously stuck. 

It’s unclear what the next steps Evergreen will take after two refloating attempts have failed. There could be moves to remove fuel and cargo, but nothing has been publicly discussed.

Concerns are mounting the ship, buried in 20 feet of mud, could be experiencing stress on the hull due to the weight of containers and may lead to a fuel leak disaster.