Danaos Shipping also manages the container ship Suez Canal, which AMSA detained in January this year.
Greg Witherall, AMSA's acting executive director of operations, stated that the issues with the Suez Canal raised significant concerns about the company's other vessels, leading to more frequent inspections.
AMSA even issued Danaos Shipping a formal warning letter, urging the company to address the systemic issues found on the detained vessel.
"Clearly that warning fell on deaf ears. Fast forward five months, and yet another Danaos Shipping vessel, the Peace, was detained in an Australian port for severe maintenance lapses and serious deterioration of fixtures and fittings such as hatches," Witherall said.
He added that the state of the 2010-built vessel posed "a very real and unacceptable risk to the safety of seafarers onboard and Australia's marine environment," emphasizing that "ships cannot be operated in this unseaworthy state."
Witherall highlighted that the vessel's watertight and weathertight failures had 'catastrophic potential.' The Peace was detained in Australia on May 31, 2024, and released on Monday after rectifying the deficiencies.
"Therefore, we have banned this ship from entering any Australian port for three months. Further action may be taken against Danaos Shipping if they continue to operate unseaworthy ships," Witherall concluded.
This year, AMSA has banned three vessels from entering Australian ports, including the Peace. The first was the Kmax Leader, owned by Porto Mare, which received a one-year ban on February 20 for "a significant breach of Australian legislation."
The second was the Darya Shaan, owned by Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, which was banned for 180 days due to "a failure to report critical defects and ineffective maintenance leading to the ship being unseaworthy."
