Toxic powder amid cargo in North Sea container spill

World
Europe

A massive clean-up effort was underway in the North Sea on Thursday, after a cargo ship lost 270 containers overboard, amid fears some of the cargo contained toxic substances.

A 25-kilogram bag of white powder, identified as "organic peroxide," a highly flammable substance used in making plastic, was swept ashore onto one of the Dutch Frisian islands on Thursday, local authorities said, adding the bag was found closed.

"The expectation is that more things may wash up on beaches tonight," said Sjaak Van Elten, a spokesperson for the Dutch Defense Ministry.

At least three of the containers were thought to contain hazardous chemicals.

Handout aerial photo made available by the Dutch Coastguard of the cargo ship MSC Zoe, January 3, 2019. /VCG Photo

Dutch soldiers were summoned to help clean up the mess.

The Panama-registered MSC Zoe, one of the world's biggest cargo ships, lost the containers late on Tuesday while battling a storm off the northwestern coast of Germany.

It was mostly carrying toys, furniture and auto parts.

But coastguards said three containers that had been transporting organic peroxide have not been located and are thought to have sunk.

So far, around 20 containers have been located near the Dutch islands while another six were found in German waters.

It was unclear how many of the containers sank to the bottom of the sea and how many were still floating and could pose a hazard to marine traffic.

Volunteers have been helping collect items washed up on the beaches. Authorities have warned volunteers and locals not to touch any bags possibly containing organic peroxide, but to call police or the fire brigade.

A person carries a flat-screen TV as others inspect a cargo container after it washed up on a beach in Terschelling, Netherlands, January 2, 2019. /VCG Photo

On the tiny island of Ameland "130,000 kilograms of debris has already been collected from eight kilometers of beach", the authorities said in a tweet.

Scavengers and treasure-hunters also flocked to the jetsam, which included shoes, dolls and flat-screen TVs.

German authorities are leading the investigation into what caused the accident, which occurred in German waters near the island of Borkum.

An MSC statement said the containers were lost overboard during "heavy weather," and a salvage company had been hired to assist in the cleanup and search for missing items.

MSC said it was taking the incident "very seriously, both in terms of the impact of such accidents on the natural environment and in terms of any damage to customers' cargo".

(Cover: Handout aerial photo made available by the Dutch Coastguard of floating containers that fell from the cargo ship MSC Zoe, January 3, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters