A total of 46 containers have been lost from a Maersk ship in the North Sea off the coast of Northern Jutland, during the storm Pia in the night of December 21 to December 22, in accordance with the Danish TV station TV 2.
The press officer at the Danish Defense Command, Christer Haven, confirms this incident to TV 2 and he states that they have announced to shipping to be careful navigating in the area.
“It will be quite inappropriate if someone sails into a container. They are spread over a large area, so you can’t say where they are exactly, but now sailors have the opportunity to be careful,” said Christer Haven.
At Tranum Strand, the local beach warden Andreas Mogensen Rasmussen said that four containers have drifted ashore.
According to the local newspaper Nordjyske, the remaining 42 containers are currently drifting between Bulbjerg and Svinkløv.
Maersk confirms to TV 2 that the container ship “Mayview Maersk” has reported the loss of containers and for the sake of its customers Maersk will not disclose what is in the containers.
The local beach wardens reveal that freezers and refrigerators have floated up on the beach, and they suspect that it must be goods from the containers that are still floating around in the sea.
In a press statement sent to TV 2, Mærsk writes that they received the message about the loss of containers in the early morning hours of December 22. No crew members have been injured and the vessel is able to operate as normal.
The incident occurred during storm Pia while she was sailing in the North Sea on her way from Bremerhaven, Germany to Gdansk, Poland.
In the announcement to TV 2, Maersk also writes that its preliminary estimate is that “more than 40 containers” have been lost.
In addition to informing the relevant authorities about the incident, Maersk has also hired a company that can help locate the missing containers. The company also emphasizes that it will help “clean up the lost containers,” as TV 2 mentions.
A major clean-up job is ahead on the beaches, and various collection stations have been set up along the beach for the collected goods from the sea.
TV 2 reports that the public is welcome to move the goods to safety, but whether it is a pair of shoes or a fridge you find, you are not allowed to take it for yourself.
According to the Danish Stranding Act, the stranded property belongs to the owner, and it is therefore theft if you remove something from the beach.
Video credit: Anelia A. Sørensen
