Recently, the powerful winter storm "Gortrude" triggered a "bomb cyclone" that swept across the English Channel. Within just 45 minutes, two cargo ships successively experienced container overboard incidents near the Isle of Wight, with a total of 24 containers falling into the sea.
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has launched an emergency search and investigation. The severe weather has impacted multiple European shipping routes and key ports.
According to reports, the first incident occurred at 23:10 on January 8. The Liberia-flagged container ship "Lombok Strait" encountered heavy seas while navigating in the Nab Tower area east of the Isle of Wight, resulting in 17 refrigerated containers accidentally falling overboard.
The vessel was on a cargo route from Portsmouth to Bridgwater and was originally scheduled to arrive at its destination on January 18.
Approximately 45 minutes later, the Cyprus-flagged "Condor Valparaíso" experienced another container overboard incident 16 nautical miles south of St. Catherine's Point, with 7 empty containers being swept into the sea by huge waves.
This cargo ship was on a route from Antwerp to Avilés and was originally expected to dock on January 11.
Currently, the "Lombok Strait" has departed from Vlissingen port and is en route to Willemstad; the "Condor Valparaíso" arrived at the Port of Bilbao on January 13.