MOL Comfort

Summary

MOL Comfort was a 2008-built Bahamas-flagged post-Panamax container ship (86,692 GT) that broke completely in two off Yemen on 17 June 2013 during moderate seas. The 26 crew abandoned successfully and were rescued within hours. The two halves drifted separately for weeks; the forward section was towed toward Oman before sinking on 27 June, and the aft section — still carrying containers — burned and sank on 6 July. Total constructive loss of vessel and 4,382 laden containers made it one of the largest single container losses ever. ClassNK's post-loss investigation identified hull-girder failure at the transverse bulkhead between cargo holds 5 and 6.

Crew perspective

MOL Comfort ended the 'blue-water container ships are structurally over-safe' consensus for the industry's largest hulls. Deck officers on 8,000+ TEU vessels increasingly monitor bending-moment loading in real time on their loadicators after Comfort; the accident report is a required-reading precedent in every classification-society structural-response course.

Notable incidents

• 17 Jun 2013 hull break in two off Yemen in moderate weather
• 26 crew safely abandoned; no fatalities
• Two halves lost separately over three weeks; 4,382 containers total loss
• Cited in IACS unified requirement UR S11A on ultra-large container-ship strength

Sister ships

MOL Creation, MOL Charisma, MOL Cosmos, APL Russia, APL Turkey