Statement on MSC ZOE investigations 25 June 2020

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company takes note of the 25 June 2020 report by the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) and the combined report of the authorities in Panama, Germany and the Netherlands. MSC has provided full cooperation to the investigations behind these reports and will closely study the conclusions.

The MSC ZOE accident of January 2019 was very regrettable and required a substantial response operation costing several tens of millions of euros overseen and funded by MSC, in full coordination with the Dutch and German authorities.

After the incident, MSC made its own decision to avoid the southern sailing route for subsequent voyages and we will continue to follow official guidance on designated container shipping routes in the North Sea, if and when such guidance evolves.

Safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment are top priorities for MSC. We note that the MSC ZOE response operation has uncovered an enormous amount of debris underwater from many different shipping activities and accidents dating back to long before container shipping began.

We are committed to minimising the risk of such accidents in future.

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