Banana containers clear-up operation under way on Sussex beaches

Work to clear up containers that washed ashore after falling from a cargo ship is under way.

Sixteen containers, mostly full of bananas, fell overboard off the Isle of Wight on Saturday, at about 18:00 GMT.

HM Coastguard said five containers had washed up around Selsey, West Sussex, on Sunday, while others had been spotted offshore, with a coastguard helicopter and fixed wing aircraft carrying out searches.

The coastguard, alongside West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Sussex Police, have put cordons around the Selsey containers and asked people not to go near them.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency broadcasted warnings to ships in the Solent after the containers came off cargo ship the Baltic Klipper near the Nab tower lighthouse, off Bembridge.

It said no crew members had been injured and the containers had been carrying “non-hazardous cargo”.

The incident disrupted some shipping movements and the P&O Cruises ship Iona was delayed in departing from Southampton because of the obstruction.

West Sussex County Council has contracted response teams that are due to arrive later to start clearing any cargo that has come ashore.

Eight containers were carrying bananas, two had avocados, another plantain and five more were empty.

Anything that is found from the containers should be reported to HM Coastguard’s Receiver of Wreck.

The Coastguard said anyone who failed to declare items within 28 days was breaking the law and may have action taken against them.

But it said “that will not include perishable goods” and “members of the public should comply with the instructions provided by the council”.

Steve Wenham, from Portsmouth, who has worked on ferries in the Solent, said the Baltic Klipper was a refrigerated vessel specialising in soft fruits and was a “regular visitor” to the area.

“She normally does a round-robin trip every month from the Caribbean or West Africa,” he said.

“If any containers have sunk they’re not going to be a problem, but it’s the ones that are still afloat, they’re the hazard.”