A warning has been issued over the last few days for mariners to keep an eye out for floating shipping containers in the English Channel. The warning has come after hundreds of boxes fell from a deck of a Maersk container vessel last week.
The U.K. Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA) is requesting members of the public and other vessels to report any containers that they see floating in or near the English Channel after the Svenborg Maersk encountered bad weather in the northern part of the Bay of Biscay.
This comes as one of the containers washed up on the English South Coast on an Axmouth beach. Local news has reported that it contained 14 tonnes of (wet) cigarettes.
The MCA has conducted air searches of U.K. waters, with so far three containers only being spotted. It is believed that the majority of the containers have sank in French waters approx 75 nautical miles south west of Lands End.
With the Svendborg Maersk losing approx 520 containers it is possible that it will go into the Guinness Book of Records for the most containers lost overboard without the actual vessel itself sinking.
Image Credit : WA Today / Photo: Troy Hill via Perth Weather Live & www.businessweek.com
