Today marks a very special day. It is the 50th blog article written by myself, The Car Spotter, for you to enjoy.
Today The Car Spotter brings you the latest update on the vehicles onboard the 51,000 tonne Hoegh Osaka container ship after it was grounded on January 3rd.
It was unknown until now the extent of the damage to the 1,400 vehicles and JCBs. Some cars included Jaguars, Land Rovers, Porsches, Minis and a £260,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith.
White Range Rover with damaged bodywork driven off Hoegh Osaka
Closeup of damaged white Range Rover with bodywork damage
Red Jaguar F-Type appears to have no visible damage
Although the cars had been securely fastened down to the ship, the vessel was deliberately grounded on a sandbank and a 52 degree list developed. Judging by the pictures, some of the cars have bodywork and panel damage and experts expect that only a small number of vehicles are expected to have suffered water damage.
The vehicles have recently started to be unloaded as the ship has been re-floated and towed to Southampton Docks in Hampshire.
There are so many vehicles it is expected to take more than a week to remove them all. So far, vehicles removed include many Range Rovers, Range Rover Evoques, Land Rover Defenders, Land Rover Freelanders, Land Rover Discoverys, Jaguar F-types, Minis and a Porsche Boxster.
A spokesperson for Hoegh Autoliners said, ‘The damage to the cargo is limited and most of the lashings held, only a couple of pieces of large machinery shifted.’ ‘Water damage only occurred on the lowest deck and on the one side the ship was listing.’ It is unknown yet which vehicles were damaged by the sea water inside the ship.
A video of some cars being unloaded from the Hoegh Osaka can be seen below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoHwrgiPrT4
Fears of unseen damage to the car’s components are feared, due to the vehicles being sat at an extreme angle for three weeks.
Vehicles that are damaged and do not start up will be towed off the ship.
It is unknown the damage, if any was sustained by the Rolls-Royce.
Many of the vehicles exiting the ship appear to be undamaged.
Range Rover Evoque appears to have escaped unscathed
Black Mini seems to have been lucky and escaped with no damage
Silver Range Rover displays signs of panel damage
The spokesperson added,’ only preliminary checks have been made on the vehicles at this point. We will be coordinating with manufacturers and dealers to carry out a full assessment of the inventory.’
Originally, the vessel was destined for the Middle East but only 45 minutes into the journey after leaving Southampton it began to list badly.
A similar incident occurred in 2006 when a ship containing 4,700 Mazdas partially capsized in the North Pacific. Instead of facing legal issues through any future road accidents, the decision was made to scrap every car. Time will tell what decision is made regarding the content of the Hoegh Osaka ship.
The damage cost could run into tens of millions of pounds.
Silver Range Rover displays signs of panel damage
The Hoegh Osaka listing at an extreme angle of 52 degrees
Land Rovers driven off the vessel in convoy, photo coutrest of Roland Hoskins
Hopefully the cars will not be scrapped, it would be a real shame to see so many luxury cars go to waste including Land Rovers, Jaguars, Porsches, Minis and a Rolls-Royce. Initially only a selection of the cars appear to be damaged with some side bodywork and panel damage. The cars pictured must have been mechanically sound enough to drive off the ship which is a good sign. At this stage however, the cars that are not pictured are probably the ones that are badly damaged, water damaged and are not starting. Hopefully the majority can be salvaged, repaired and given to their rightful owners or a new loving home.
What are your thoughts on the damage sustained by the vehicles? What do you think the decision of the luxury cars future will be?
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