72 shipping containers washed overboard of Pt Stephens. beware

[catshark]

hi guys heads up recent rough weather has contributed in containers falling off a mega ship of NSW mid coast (news source). unless the captain wanted to make a few new reefs...........any case take care if visiting the region with your boat. beautiful part of the world.

[gazza2006au]

Many of these will be floating just at the surface could be dangerous i'd imagine guys are out there trying to tow them in and claim them lol

[Noelm]

Fat chance of towing one in (I have tried) and claiming them isn't exactly as easy as you think.

[Fed]

I wonder if they go & collect them or just let them eventually sink?

[Noelm]

They will hopefully just sink, I don't think they go and try to get them.

[gazza2006au]

83 containers were lost :o there are hazards offshore on the central coast, i think there will be a big recovery mission as it's just going to pollute our pristine waters i remember watching that Police Rescue show that was on foxtel a year ago a guy had sunk his cruiser in Sydney Harbor they had to recover as much debris as possible

[Noelm]

Half of them will be on the bottom now, the rest will just drift around until they sink too, or wash ashore, in this swell anything's possible.

[gazza2006au]

Wonder what they were carrying anyone know what the ship transports?

[Noelm]

Containers have everything and anything in them, from personal stuff to car parts and electrical stuff, there is no specific goods, they are just a method of storing items in set sized, weatherproof "boxes"

[Dignity]

They can drift for days if the weight distribution is a little towards the door end, they end up with air pockets that keep them either partially submerged or even just below the surface.

[Noelm]

Some do bob around for quite some time, but usually they just slowly fill up and down they go, some will get washed up I would think, we have a big swell here (that's why they fell off in the first place) and chances are, some will make it to shore.

[Noelm]

Wonder what they were carrying anyone know what the ship transports?
Just saw on the news, stuff washing up includes adult nappies, plastic car parts, toilet paper and some general "stuff" cargo included bikes, but I guess not many of them will float!

[catshark]

most things are plastic theses days, should be a lot of floatys........ when the weather calms and seas are flatter, imagine trolling out there, finding a floating container, over board you go with the boltcutters ,open the doors and what floats out.........10 thousand packets of fishing lures, hundreds of bubble wrapped covered fishing reels, rods shimano merchandise ... or as Noelm stated above ......ADULT nappies....... l laughed so much....so funny.

[Noelm]

They also mentioned on the news that it is NOT finders keepers!

[RayLamp]

I just had a mental image of someone diving over the side of their boat, bolt cutters in hand, they open the container, water rushes in and the container is full of tampons...

[gazza2006au]

I just had a mental image of someone diving over the side of their boat, bolt cutters in hand, they open the container, water rushes in and the container is full of tampons...
That idea is a bit expandable

[gazza2006au]

Heaps of rubbish washing up on a couple beaches on the central coast my aunty has gone to help since shes a local up there

[ben475]

Someone told me something once about going out and finding and sinking floating containers so boats and ships dont him them.
Not sure how true it is but sounds funny enough.

[Noelm]

Yeah, probably what goes on, I just can't imagine the contents would be worth anything now, and lifting a container full of water wouldn't be a breeze either, let alone keeping track of them all.

[gazza2006au]

I read on a forum one time a may day call went out over channel 16 it may have been 11am or 11pm apparently someone had hit a shipping container off Botany Bay Heads and the boat was sinking, the call was heard by another fisho and he asked on the forum if it was anyone on the board

nothing more was heard about the may day call or sinking boat

scary thought tho some big sharks out there off Botany Heads and Port Hacking Head's i video'd this big shark just south of Botany Heads off Cronulla Beach last Summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNWt8rmgJG4

[catshark]

Send the Navy to search and shoot up the containers, they will sink. With so many coal ships waiting off newcastle to get loaded with coal, im sure they wouldnt want a container fouling up their rudder and propellers as they depart with millions of dollars worth.Remember that ship that washed up few years back. big operation .

[gazza2006au]

The containers fell off 30km's offshore that would be out past the continental shelf i doubt they will recover the ones on the bottom in that depth

[552Evo]

Some more info,

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/conservation/central-coast-community-hit-with-waves-of-rubbish-after-lost-shipping-containers-break-open/news-story/90f6fec083061f1b369c38629d90c7ed


Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

[gazza2006au]

Wow can u imagine the wildlife suffering from all these plastic materials? that shipping company should be fined a lot of money and they should have to pay to clean the beaches

the mess is outrageous

[Noelm]

The ship owners are paying, and have organised specialist cleaners, however the locals seem to want to pick up stuff on their own.

[tug_tellum]

Good job for unemployed people and the government can charge it against the ships insurance. Win ,Win I reckon
tug tellum

[Crocodile]

Hello All,

This all a bit of a yawn.
Lots of containers overboard every day on the high seas.
This just happened close to land.
Youtube is full of ships with container stacks all arse over head.
Another reason to keep a good lookout when underway.

[fishtragic]

These containers were lost around 60-80m depth. Only a few have been accounted for. They're searching for the others still. The ships insurance is paying the bill. Recently the rules were changed to ensure that all containers, except reefers, had to have vents in four corners instead of the original two to ensure that they sink if lost. Still, I'm navigating with extreme caution at the moment.

[gazza2006au]

From what i read the containers were lost at 30km's out to sea, the continental shelf off Port Stephens is at 30km's so its a good chance those sunk containers will never be retrieved unless they send a robot down very deep

[gazza2006au]

I think one of the shipping containers has been found, Paul Worstling posted this on FB