Fishermen and beachgoers have been warned to stay out of the water after 83 shipping containers fell from a ship on Friday.
The 83 containers were lost in the waters off the coast of Newcastle in NSW with a further 30 damaged on board the ship.
While there are no hazardous materials reported inside the lost containers, they still present a heavy risk to other ships, fisherman and beachgoers.
Angus Mitchell from the Roads and Maritime Service has cautioned anyone from going into the water until a clean up is completed.
Fishermen and beachgoers have been warned to stay out of the water after 83 shipping containers fell from a container ship on Friday
‘A full manifest of the cargo on board the vessel, and the condition of the vessel, is being sought,’ he said.
‘It’s now the vessel operator’s responsibility to recover and remove the 40-foot containers.’
A Yang Ming spokeswoman confirmed to AAP there were no dangerous goods or marine contaminants inside the containers.
‘There is no security concern about the condition of the vessel,’ she said.
‘As for the containers … Yang Ming will inform the customers and discuss with P & I (insurers) for follow-up.’
RMS said two containers had been spotted about 100 metres off Fingal Head and Boondelbah Island, near Port Stephens.
Boaters were alerted to the potential hazards on marine radio.
The YM Efficiency was travelling to Sydney from Taiwan when it was hit by a five metre wave in heavy swell 30 kilometres off the coast
YM Efficiency, a Liberian-registered vessel operated by the Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, was making its way from Kaohsiung in Taiwan to Sydney’s Port Botany on Thursday night when it encountered large swells.
More than 80 containers were lost overboard and a further 30 were damaged by the rogue wave which led to the ship being denied entry in Port Botany, it remains off the coast.
RMS executive director Angus Mitchell said while the contents of the containers aren’t yet known, they do not have any hazardous materials inside.
Debris has already been spotted on the coastline and the RMS is warning captains to be on the look out for ’40-foot containers at sea and on shore’.
Debris has been washing up on the NSW coastline since the incident at sea
Two have already been spotted off the coast meaning there are still 81 one containers still unaccounted for.
There were no reports of injuries on board the ship.
Reports of container sightings can be made by calling triple-0 or the AMSA reporting hotline on 1800 641 792.