News / Hapag-Lloyd denies its box ship caused rupture in oil pipeline

Members from the Orange County shoreline cleanup and assessment team conduct cleanup operations in the vicinity of Corona Del Mar State Beach Park, California, Oct. 6, 2021. The crews worked alongside federal, state and local partners, ensuring cleanup efforts were conducted efficiently and with minimal impact to the environment. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Janessa Warschkow.)

Hapag-Lloyd has categorically denied that its vessel, the 21-year-old Rotterdam Express, dragged its anchor onto an oil pipeline, causing thousands of litres of oil to spill into the ocean off the coast of California.

US Coast Guard investigations into the oil spill, about 10km west of Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, have led to the authority seeking clarification of the vessel’s movements during 21 and 22 September.

However, the German container shipping line’s head of corporate communications, Nils Haupt, told The Loadstar: ...