Cargo ship drops containers off Australia, nappies wash up on beaches; Boaters warned of debris

Cargo ship drops containers off Australia, nappies wash up on beaches
Alison Bevege 2 June 2018 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-ship/cargo-ship-drops-conta...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A cargo ship lost 83 containers over-board during heavy seas off Australia and items including nappies and sanitary pads are washing up on beaches while there are fears the ill-fated containers will pose a hazard for shipping and whales.

The YM Efficiency, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, was sailing from Taiwan to Sydney when it encountered 5-metre swells in the Tasman Sea, about 30 km off Australia’s east coast late on Thursday.

“They’re 40-foot containers, they sit about a foot or two off the water ... even in the best of conditions they’re difficult to spot, but at night and in a swell, almost impossible,” Roads and Maritime Services executive director Angus Mitchell told a television channel on Saturday.

The Liberian-registered vessel rolled heavily in the foul weather causing the 83 containers to slide off, while another 30 were damaged, the New South Wales Roads and Maritime Service said on Saturday.

Television pictures showed some containers spilled open and hanging precariously off the ship.

Nappies, surgical masks and sanitary products have begun washing up on beaches north of Australia’s largest city, Sydney, Australian news outlets AAP and ABC reported.

Mitchell said the cargo was not hazardous but the exact contents had yet to be established.

Some Australians feared the flotsam may also pose a hazard to humpback whales north along the coast.

“How dare they pollute our local waterways ... whale migration too. Feel so sad a foreign vessel has such an impact on our environment,” said one Twitter user called “Signflyer”.

“They should be made to collect all 83 containers.”

Boaters warned of debris after 83 shipping containers fall from cargo ship off NSW coast
1 June 2018

More debris is expected to wash onto beaches along the New South Wales coastline after a cargo ship lost 83 containers.
Sanitary products on a beach.
Photo: Sanitary products have washed up on the New South Wales coastline after the ship encountered extreme weather. (ABC News )

Nappies, sanitary products and surgical masks have already washed ashore after the Liberian ship lost its cargo in extreme weather on Thursday.

New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services executive director Angus Mitchell said the containers were believed to have fallen overboard from the 268-metre YM Efficiency about 30 kilometres off the coast of Port Stephens in Commonwealth waters
more...http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-01/83-shipping-containers-tumble-from...