Banana container 'carnage': All you need to know

A week ago, 16 shipping containers – mostly filled with bananas – fell off a cargo ship near the Isle of Wight.

Warnings were broadcast to vessels in the Solent shipping channel to watch out for floating containers as some began to wash up on the shore near Selsey, West Sussex.

Though some reacted with hilarity, others raised concerns over the potential environmental and economic impact.

Here is all you need to know about the banana container incident so far.

The containers fell overboard from the Baltic Klipper on 6 December in choppy seas off the coast of Bembridge.

No crew members were injured, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the cargo was "non-hazardous".

But as containers washed up on the shore, residents described scenes of "carnage" and likened the sea to "polystyrene soup".

The authorities said they have taken samples of the white insulation for independent testing to find out exactly what it is. They expect results at the end of December.

Eight containers carried bananas – some with Tesco labels – while two had avocados and one plantain. The others were empty.

Anyone who found "wreck material" and failed to declare it was warned they could be breaking the law and have action taken against them.

Seven containers washed up in Selsey, two at Pagham Harbour and two at Bognor Regis.

The remainder are unaccounted for, with an aircraft being used by HM Coastguard to scan the area to find them.

Seatrade, which owns the ship, said it continued to cooperate closely with UK authorities to recover the containers.

"Offshore searches are ongoing," the company said.

Steve Wenham, who has worked on ferries in the Solent, said containers could "cause a great deal of damage" if they drifted into shipping lanes.

Volunteers have continued to clear debris, such as plastic and the containers' foam insulation.

However, they told BBC Radio Sussex that there was only so much they could do with more having arrived with each high tide.

"We're trying to help prevent some of the ecological disaster from this polystyrene, which is breaking up," volunteer Daphe Morris said.

"It needs a huge number of people to come and pick them up before they become too small and go into the ecosystem and inside the marine life - and inside us."

It is not the first time unusual cargo has washed by on South East shores.

A giant German submarine, drugs worth £80m and a dead elephant calf have been found over the years.

The BBC more recently reported that millions of plastic pellets had washed ashore at Camber Sands following a fault at Southern Water's wastewater plant.

Scientists at King's College London tested 200 of the bio-beads and found they contain heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium, which could be toxic to wildlife.

Southern Water has apologised for the spill and said it was "unable to comment on third-party testing".

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton MP Alison Griffiths has called for the cargo ship's owner to pay for the cleanup.

She said she was "firmly pressing" to ensure the bill was "met by the vessel's operators and their insurers".

Seatrade said its insurers had been "actively engaged from the outset to ensure that all necessary resources and expertise are available to assist with the response and recovery operations".

West Sussex County Council said all agencies were monitoring their costs which will be put to insurers.

The council has warned the clean-up would "take some time" and it remained unclear how containers will be removed from beaches.

Work has taken place to ensure those on shore do not end up back in the sea, it added.

A spokesperson for the local authority, which is leading the multi-agency operation, said it had brought in environmental management company Ambipar to help.

"Ambipar is currently reviewing all available information and gathering further data to support the long-term plan for the clean-up and future actions," the spokesperson added.

"The focus is to minimise any marine and environmental impact by addressing the hotspot areas identified."

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