Video animation shows CSCL Jupiter grounding near Antwerp

The path of a giant container ship that ran aground near Antwerp, Belgium on the river Scheldt on Monday has been retraced and animated thanks to satellite technology.

In the sped-up video animation, CSCL Jupiter can be seen leaving a berth between Saftingen and Lilo on Antwerp’s northern outskirts, rounding two bends in the Scheldt before going off course and grounding near Bath, Netherlands at approximately 0653.

CSCL Jupiter reportedly suffered a steering gear failure, causing it to run aground on the banks of the Scheldt while heading for the North Sea, en route to Hamburg from Antwerp. The 14,300 TEU, Hong Kong-flagged ship blocked access to the port for some time on Monday morning (14 August), when the first tug boats attending the scene found the ship to be hard aground on a sandbank. 

Several hours later, at high tide, some 16 tug boats and a patrol boat are shown on hand to aid in refloating the vessel, which subsequently sailed back to Antwerp for inspection.

According to the China Shipping Agency Co website in the Netherlands, China Shipping Container Lines Co Ltd, is a specialised corporation affiliated to China Shipping (Group) Company, involved in container liner and other related services.

The video animation of CSCL Jupiter’s grounding was supplied by Genscape’s Vesseltracker software.