Swiss shipping line MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has said that it will fund the clean-up of debris from cargo containers that fell off its MSC Zoe vessel in the North Sea on 2 January.
The company will search for all the containers that fell off the vessel, as well as clean the beaches of the Dutch and German coastlines that were affected by the spill.
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In partnership with the authorities, MSC has appointed Ardent Global to coordinate the search at sea in the Netherlands and Germany.
MSC said: “Other specialist response companies already appointed by MSC continue to work with authorities and members of the public on beach cleaning, as previously communicated.”
At the time of the incident, MSC Zoe met a storm in the North Sea when it was sailing to Bremerhaven, Germany.
During the storm, more than 270 cargo containers fell from the ship, while some of them washed ashore on Wadden Islands situated off the coast of the Netherlands and Germany.
Containers were used to hold hazardous chemicals, car parts, refrigerators, toys and furniture, reported Reuters.
Around 35 containers were spotted near the Wadden Islands following the spill.
In order to retrieve the containers and conduct a clean-up, MSC appointed a salvage company and is expected to deploy specialised ships with sonar capabilities to locate missing cargo at sea.
However, Dutch authorities are demanding clean-up costs from MSC. According to the Dutch coastguard, prosecutors have already launched a criminal investigation into the spill.
