View source for Tokio Express

{{Short description|Container ship}}
{{Other uses|Tokyo Express (disambiguation)}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
|display title=ital
|infobox caption = ''Tokio Express''}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Tokio Express.jpg
|Ship caption=''Tokio Express'' off [[Calshot]] in 1988
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name={{ubl|''Tokio Express'' (1973–1984)|''Scandutch Edo'' (1984–1986)|''Tokio Express'' (1986–2000)}}
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=[[Hapag-Lloyd]]<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship registry={{flagicon|Germany}}&nbsp;[[Hamburg]]<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Blohm + Voss]], Hamburg<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=878<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=12 January 1971<ref name=7seas>{{cite web|title=TOKIO EXPRESS – 1973 – IMO 7232822|url=http://7seasvessels.com/?p=25148|website=7seasvessels.com|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref>
|Ship launched=2 November 1972<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship completed=12 April 1973<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=1973-2000
|Ship identification={{IMO|7232822}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship fate=Scrapped 10 January 2000, [[Jiangyin]], [[China]]
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=Hamburg Express-Class (1973) [[Container ship]]
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|58082}}<ref name=7seas/>
*{{DWT|49532}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|287.6|m|ft}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship beam={{convert|32.3|m|ft}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship power=[[Stal-Laval]] AP-40 turbo electric steam turbine. Output: {{convert|81,131|hp}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship propulsion=1 × fixed-pitch propeller<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship speed={{convert|23|kn|abbr=on}}<ref name=7seas/>
|Ship capacity=
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|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''''Tokio Express'''''<!--Not a typo--> was a [[container ship]], built and registered in Hamburg in 1973 for [[Hapag-Lloyd]].<ref name=7seas/> In 1984 she was renamed ''Scandutch Edo'' before being acquired by Pol Gulf International in 1993 and restored to her original name.<ref name=7seas/> In 1997, she was acquired by Westwind International and in 1999, by Falani, before being [[Ship breaking|broken up for scrap]] in 2000.<ref name=7seas/>

''Tokio Express'' is best known for being hit by a [[rogue wave]] on 13 February 1997 that caused her to lose cargo, including one [[cargo container]] loaded with 4.8 million pieces of [[Lego]]. Ever since, Lego pieces including octopuses, dragons, flippers and flowers have been [[flotsam and jetsam|washing up]] on [[Cornwall]] beaches and are commonly found after storms.<ref name=BBC2014/><ref name="BBC2024">{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Lisa |title=Plymouth fisherman lands first 'lost' Lego shark off Cornwall |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy553j377do |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=BBC News |date=10 August 2024}}</ref><ref name=BCA>{{cite journal|last1=Ebbesmeyer|first1=Curtis|authorlink =Curtis Ebbesmeyer|journal=Beachcombers' Alert|date=1997|volume=2|issue=2|oclc=35113573|publisher=Beachcombers' and Oceanographers' International Association}}</ref>

==The ship==
''Tokio Express'' was one of four ''Trio'' class container ships built for Hapag-Lloyd by [[Blohm + Voss]] in the early 1970s. These were all 3,000-[[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEU]] class ships. The first of these was ''Hamburg Express'', which was followed by ''Bremen Express'', ''Tokio Express'' and finally ''Hongkong Express''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gIhUAAAAMAAJ "FairPlay International Shipping Weekly"], ''Financial Times'',1980, p. 9.</ref>

The ships were originally powered by twin-screw. During the 1980s they all underwent a refit that included conversion to single screw propulsion, while retaining one of the turbines.<ref>''Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering International'', Whitehall Press, 1982, p. 87</ref><ref>''Shipcare & Maritime Management'', Intec Press, 1983, p. 16.</ref>

After changing hands several times as Hapag-Lloyd upgraded their fleet, ''Tokio Express'' was eventually scrapped in 2000. The name, with the English spelling, has since been re-used for a similar sized but much more modern container ship, launched in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/fleet/vessel_1546.html |title=Tokyo Express |publisher= Hapag-Lloyd Vessels}}</ref>

==Accident==
While en route from [[Rotterdam]] to [[New York City]] on 13 February 1997, ''Tokio Express'' was hit by a [[rogue wave]] about {{convert|20|mile|km}} off [[Land's End]]. She tilted 60 degrees one way, then 40 degrees back, losing 62 containers overboard. She put in at [[Southampton]] for attention after the accident.<ref name=BBC2014>{{cite web|last1=Cacciottolo|first1=Mario|title=The Cornish beaches where Lego keeps washing up|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28367198|website=www.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref><ref name=seapix>{{cite web|last1=Coppock|first1=Trevor|title=Tokio Express, Scandutch Edo|url=http://www.seapixonline.com/nsphoto.php?pid=7406&hit=9&back=nsthumbs&mid=0&tot=10&typ=name&wds=Scandutch+Edo&catn=&cat=|website=www.seapixonline.com|accessdate=28 October 2014}}</ref>

One of the lost containers held just under 5 million Lego pieces. Coincidentally, a large portion of these were destined for toy kits depicting sea adventures,<ref name=Indy>{{cite web|last1=Gallivan|first1=Joseph|title=Life's a beach to comb|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/lifes-a-beach-to-comb-1173190.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/lifes-a-beach-to-comb-1173190.html |archive-date=2022-06-21 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=28 October 2014|date=22 August 1998}}</ref> in lines including [[Lego Pirates]] and [[Lego Aquazone]]. Among the pieces were 418,000 swimming flippers, 97,500 scuba tanks, 26,600 life preservers, 13,000 spear guns, and 4,200 octopuses.<ref name=atlantic>{{cite web|last1=Garber|first1=Megan|title=Why Are All These Legos Washing Up on the Beach?|work=The Atlantic|date=21 July 2014 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/why-are-all-these-legos-washing-up-on-the-beach/374739/}}</ref> Sea grass, [[cutlass]]es and dragons were also well-represented.<ref name=BBC2014/>

As late as 2024,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-04-27 |title=Boy finds rare Lego octopus on Cornwall beach after 1997 spill |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-68911765 |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> 27 years after the accident sometimes known as the Great Lego Spill,<ref>{{cite web
	| url = https://www.livescience.com/great-lego-spill-25th-anniversary
	| title = 5 million shipwrecked Legos still washing up 25 years after falling overboard
	| last = Weisberger
	| first = Mindy
	| date = 2022-02-12
	| publisher = [[Live Science]]
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Boyle |first=Cash |date=2024-04-27 |title=Teenager finds ‘holy grail’ Lego octopus from 1997 spill off Cornwall coast |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/27/teenager-finds-holy-grail-lego-octopus-from-1997-spill-off-cornwall-coast |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> people in England, Belgium, and Ireland were still finding octopuses, dragons, diver flippers, and other plastic pieces washed ashore and caught in fishermen's nets.<ref name=BBC2014/>
<ref>{{cite web
	| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lego-lost-sea-ocean-ship-spill-cornwall-b2379807.html
	| title = Lego legacy: The 26-year mystery of fantasy worlds lost at sea
	| last = Dalton
	| first = Jane
	| date = 2023-07-24
	| publisher = [[The Independent]]
}}</ref>
<ref name=BBC2024/>
Pieces may have travelled much further; a Dutch shipping clerk started an inventory which now has active participants in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas looking for the arrival of more pieces.<ref name=Indy/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Transport}}
*''[[Hansa Carrier]]''
*[[Friendly Floatees]]
*[[Curtis Ebbesmeyer]]
*[[Marine plastic pollution]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.facebook.com/LegoLostAtSea Lego Lost at Sea]

{{Lego}}
{{1997 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokio Express}}
[[Category:Container ships]]
[[Category:1972 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hamburg]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1997]]
[[Category:Lego]]
[[Category:Ocean pollution]]
[[Category:Plastics and the environment]]