Container loss reported on vessel off Dutch West Frisian Islands

The crew of a cargo vessel reported that some of their containers had fallen into the sea while they were underway off the West Frisian Islands in the Netherlands on Wednesday, April 7.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), the Cyprus-flagged Baltic Tern lost five containers while it was 30 kilometres off Ameland.

Rijkswaterstaat officials added that the vessel’s owners and insurers have already appointed a salvage company to recover the containers.

Three of the containers are laden with dry goods while the remaining two have liquid cargo, including one with acetone.

The Rijkswaterstaat has assured that acetone will have no harmful effects on the marine environment since a large portion of it will evaporate into the atmosphere while the remainder that will end up in the water will be easily diluted.

Officials said that only the two containers with liquid cargo have been found. These have since been towed to shore to prevent these from floating further out to sea.

Hydrographic survey equipment will be employed in the search for the three other containers, the Rijkswaterstaat  added.

Baltic Tern is currently docked in the Port of Rotterdam as an investigation and the search for the missing containers are ongoing.