Up to 50 of the 81 containers that were lost from container ship YM Efficiency (IMO 9353280) at the beginning of June have been located on the ocean floor off the New South Wales coast.
The containers were in varying conditions, with some having broken apart, while others were intact.
A five-day Port of Newcastle hydrographic survey from June 22nd was described as a success, but poor weather conditions had caused delays and the search was suspended until late on this week.
The risk the containers could pose to maritime operations, especially trawler fish operations, would be assessed fully once the survey was finished and the collected data processed by surveyors.
The search area for the containers thus far was focused on high-priority areas around where the containers were originally lost from the vessel, with computer modelling software predicting where containers were most likely to be found.
Two of the 81 lost containers were identified after washing up on the shores of Fingal Head and Yaacaba Headland. A further 30 containers remained on the ship, but were damaged, after heavy weather hit YM Efficiency on June 1st about 30km off the coast of New South Wales. she berthed alongside the DP World terminal in Sydney on June 6th.
Liberia-flagged, 42,741 gt YM Efficiency is owned by All Oceans Transportation Inc care of manager Yang Ming Transport Corp of Keelung City, Taiwan. It is entered with Britannia P&I Club on behalf of All Oceans Transportation Inc.