MSC Matilde back on even keel in Liverpool

The 23 crew members temporarily left the ship but returned about 8:30 a.m. Friday after a ballast transfer, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

   Twenty-three crew members of the containership MSC Matilde disembarked the vessel as a precaution early Friday morning after the ship developed a starboard-side tilt while docked at the Port of Liverpool, the Mediterranean Shipping Company said in a statement.
   There were no reports of injuries, loss of cargo or damage to the 4,400-TEU containership, and operations are back to normal, MSC said in a statement. The crew returned to the ship about 8:30 a.m. local time after a ballast transfer put the vessel back on an even keel, a spokesperson with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) told American Shipper by email.
   Port operator Peel Ports VTS contacted the HM Coastguard about 2:25 a.m. that the Panama-flagged vessel was listing just outside Gladstone Dock on the River Mersey, the spokesperson said.
   The majority of the 2,184 containers reported on board the ship were empty, MCA said.
   “Crosby Coastguard Rescue Team and the RNLI Hoylake all-weather lifeboats have been sent to the scene. Two tugs and a tier 2 pollution response vessel are on standby as a precautionary measure,” the MCA said in a statement. “MCA’s duty counter pollution and salvage officer, duty surveyor and the Marine Accident Information Board have been informed.”
   No pollution has been reported, the MCA spokesperson said.
   An MSC spokesperson said the MSC Matilde is expected to sail to Valencia, Spain, Saturday morning.
   MSC said in its statement the cause of the incident is being analyzed by the relevant authorities.