MOL Comfort Sister Ships to Receive Hull Strengthening

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday June 27, 2013

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), said in a statement today that the six sister vessels of the containership MOL Comfort, which last week broke in two while under way from Singapore to Jeddah, are to undergo hull strengthening work.

The company said Tuesday it would carry out inspections of the vessels "as quickly as possible," and described today's move as an "extra preventive measure" in light of the fact that it may take some time to identify the cause of the MOL Comfort incident.

The six vessels, MOL Creation, MOL Charisma, MOL Celebration, MOL Courage, MOL Competence, and MOL Commitment, will receive the strengthening "at the earliest timing."

MOL said the vessels already meet International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) standards, and the work will strengthen the hull to as much as twice that required by the standard.

In related events today, MOL said the aft part of MOL Comfort sank earlier Thursday with approximately 1,500 metric tonnes of fuel oil onboard.