More Containers Lost at Sea

Another ship, the One Apus, has hit rough seas, damaging containers of products that likely contain consumer electronics and car audio products.

Some of Kicker’s products including amplifiers and speakers were in at least one container on the ship.  “We have been advised some of our stock was on the One Apus, but as of today we still do not know if our products were part of what went overboard or if it is damaged, or just fine,” said Kevin Campbell, Director of Global Marketing for Kicker. The ship went into port in Japan for repairs and to assess the damage to containers onboard.  “So we know we had stock on that ship, but we do not yet know the status of loss or damage,” he added.

Earthquake Audio is also waiting to hear the fate of some of its home audio containers aboard the One Apus.  It had two containers with $150K of product on the ship.

“We are operating as if it is a total loss unless we hear otherwise, and we have already placed a replacement order. This is the first such issue we have in our 35 years in business (since 1985), but it seems that there are many more such accidents in recent years; yet, they are building bigger ships that hold more containers. I heard the most recent ones can hold over 23,000 of 20 ft containers,” said Abraham Sahyoun Earthquake VP Operations.

He added,  “It’s another dagger thrown at us besides COVID.  But we’re solid; we continue to work through it.”

The One Apus incident occurred November 30, one month after another ship, the Aquila One, suffered container damage as well.  That ship also carried consumer electronics and car audio products.

Photo: The Maritime Executive