Going, going gone! Ship loses 520 containers after storage boxes washed overboard during fierce storm

  • Svendborg Maersk began losing containers off northern France after it was hit with 30ft waves and 60 knots winds on February 14
  • Company said of the 520 that have gone unaccounted for, 85 per cent of them were empty and the others held dry goods like frozen meat

Hurricane-force winds battered the Svendborg Maersk as it sailed around the Atlantic coast of Europe.
The Danish ship Svendborg began losing containers off northern France after it was hit with 30ft waves and 60 knots winds on February 14.
But it only discovered the extent of its loss after it arrived in the Spanish port of Malaga this week.
Amid waves of 30 feet and winds of 60 knots, the Svendborg began losing containers off northern France
Amid waves of 30 feet and winds of 60 knots, the Svendborg began losing containers off northern France
It only discovered the extent of its loss after it arrived in the Spanish port of Malaga this week
It only discovered the extent of its loss after it arrived in the Spanish port of Malaga this week
The company said of the 520 that have gone unaccounted for, 85 per cent of them were empty and the others held dry goods like frozen meat.
It stressed that none of the missing storage boxes contained dangerous goods.
Many of the containers that survived the storm collapsed and were left crushed.
Palle Laursen, vice president of operations for Maersk Line, said: 'The total number of lost containers turned out to be even worse than we feared.
'Svendborg Maersk experienced unexpected, extreme weather conditions – and we will now carefully examine our procedures to see if they need correction in order to avoid similar incidents in the future,' Sea Trade Global reported.
After the ship arrived in Malaga, Maersk discovered that about 520 containers were unaccounted for
The company said of the 520 that have gone unaccounted for, 85 per cent of them were empty
After the ship arrived in Malaga, Maersk discovered that about 520 containers were unaccounted for
The company said of the 520 that have gone unaccounted for, 85 per cent of them were empty
On Friday the French environmental group Robin des Bois said it would sue Maersk for failing to disclose the full extent of the loss when it occurred, putting the lives of others in danger, causing pollution and abandoning waste at sea.
The group claims the containers were a lasting danger to fishing vessels and the environment.
The revelations about the overboard containers came after a shipping container stuffed with a million cigarettes washed up on the Devon coast.
The 40-foot box - which contains 14 tonnes of cigarettes - which landed at Seaton, Devon, could be the first of many to wash up on the Lyme Bay coast in the coming days.
It said that 15 per cent of the containers lost held dry goods like frozen meat
It said that 15 per cent of the containers lost held dry goods like frozen meat
An environmental group claims the containers were a lasting danger to fishing vessels and the environment
An environmental group claims the containers were a lasting danger to fishing vessels and the environment
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is arranging recovery of the Maersk container which landed over the weekend.
Police officers who have cordoned off the beach issued a stern warning to anyone hoping to pick up any free loot.
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: 'It was reported by a member of the public... and officers are on scene to make sure no one puts themselves at risk to recover anything.
A container, lost from a vessel in the Bay of Biscay, carrying thousands of cigarettes has washed up on the pebble beach of Seaton in Devon
A container, lost from a vessel in the Bay of Biscay, carrying thousands of cigarettes has washed up on the pebble beach of Seaton in Devon
The battered container which spilled its contents over a wide area has now been cordoned off by police
The battered container which spilled its contents over a wide area has now been cordoned off by police
'The contents belong initially to the original owner of the container, and then to the official Receiver of Wrecks, so anyone taking anything that washes ashore, even one packet of cigarettes, is effectively committing theft and will be prosecuted.
'So the message to anyone intending to go down there looking for free fags is don't bother.'
Meanwhile, a second container containing millions more cigarettes was recovered from the English Channel by coastguards.
The 40ft long Maersk crate was spotted floating in the sea seven miles south of Portland Bill, Dorset.
Coastguards tasked a local tug boat to the area and the crew managed to attach a line to it and pull it into Portland Port.
It is expected that more containers will wash up in coming days.
Recovery: A tug boat tows a heavy container into Portland, Dorset
Recovery: A tug boat tows a heavy container into Portland, Dorset
Saved: The cargo is expected to be reclaimed by Maersk
Saved: The cargo is expected to be reclaimed by Maersk

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