Refrigerators, shoes, needles and plastic – the beaches along the West Jutland coast are full of damaged goods and rubbish washed ashore after a cargo ship dropped 46 containers into the sea. In recent days, volunteers and beach guards have been working to clean the beaches and on Wednesday they were assisted by wheel loaders and trucks to haul away the rubbish.
Coastguard Thomas Duurloo tells Danish TV2 that the cleanup will probably take a few days.
– We expect that what exists now can be removed quickly. Within a few days we expect it to be gone.
The shipping company assumes responsibility
It was last Friday that the ship from the shipping company Mærsk dropped the containers in the sea off the coast of Jutland when the strong storm Pia moved in over Denmark.
On Tuesday, beach guards held a meeting with Mærsk, who took responsibility for the cleanup.
– That is our responsibility. We are here until everything is cleaned up and fully prepared to cover the costs that may be associated with the cleanup, said Søren Thuen, head of safety at Mærsk, after the meeting.
Mærsk has hired a salvage vessel that sails around the Skagerrak to try to locate and salvage the containers that have not yet been washed ashore.
Voluntary efforts
Many volunteers have already contributed to collecting the lost goods and placing them in piles along the beaches.
– There have been an incredible number of volunteers who have helped. It has been very helpful, says Duurloo to TV2.
Once the stranded goods have been collected, they will be sorted and sent for destruction, explains Duurloo.
Depending on prevailing conditions, additional goods may drift along the beaches in the coming days.