A Sea of Containers

Many of you know that our container was damaged  on the cargo ship from Sri Lanka to Angola when a fire  broke out. As the fire broke out, steel dividers closed off hold areas. Then,  sprinklers containing chemical-infused water to extinguish the fire were set off. The combination of smoke, flames, heat and chemical water ruined the content. I had never noticed before, but the steel containers have vents on the bottom sides in order for air to circulate during the journey, which probably allowed flames to incinerate all the cardboard boxes.

 The cargo company said that they had never experienced this before, that it is more common for the containers to FALL OFF the cargo ships during storms.

This is verified by a visiting Swedish diplomat who told me that his container fell of the cargo ship on its way to Mozambique. He received a short letter from the cargo company :

"We regret to inform you that your container fell off the ship during a storm. Please take immediate contact with your insurance company." 

The diplomat maintains that the cargo companies stack on the containers, as many as possible, to increase their profits. If the cargo ship is unlucky enough to meet severe weather, it is highly possible that those containers stacked over a certain height, can fall off the ship. Since all containers are independently insured, the cargo company loses nothing and our oceans are increasingly lined with steel containers!

Please read: NPR: Shipping containers on sea floor

Luanda Port