Scavengers on alert as Russian cargo ship loses 1,500 tons of ...

by Dave Keating | January 20, 2009 at 12:28 am

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After a Russian ship was knocked over by a storm yesterday in the English Channel, its cargo, 1,500 tons of timber, has spilled into the water and is now floating on the surface. Scavengers are expected to descend on the channel today attempting to pick up the spilled cargo.

The Russian registered Sinegorsk had to be escorted to shelter near the Isle of Wight after force 10 gales off the Sussex coast, caused it to list badly, toppling much of its valuable cargo off the deck.

Police and local authorities were last night braced for a repeat of the salvage scenes seen exactly a year ago when another ship, the Greek-registered Ice Prince, sank off Dorset shedding a similar load of timber.

Beaches along an eight mile stretch of coast were described as looking "like a branch of B&Q" with almost 2,000 tons of timber washed up in piles. Scavengers were seen wading chest deep into the water to haul large planks back.