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Drifting Bath Toys Expected To Hit New England

Posted by timothy on from the good-for-ebay dept.

gsx1400 writes " Auntie Beeb is reporting on the 11 year, 5,000+ mile journey by a container load of rubber ducks, The article doesn't go into specifics, but a more detailed analysis of this and other long-distance flotsam is here. This has nasty connotations for the Cargo of the SS Mulheim, which ran aground earlier this year in Cornwall, and has been left to break up. It's estimated that up to 10,000 containers are washed off ships each year, and many of them do not sink, but drift around our oceans, causing pollution and shipping hazards."

2 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. It's happened by spineboy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    My Grandparents were in Florida about 15 years ago taking a walk on the beach, when they saw a crowd of people gathered. Some smuggling boat had broken up and it's contents had washed up on shore.

    The contents were 1) Plastic wrapped bags of money, and 2) Large plastic wrapped bales of pot.

    Unfortunately, the US Customs agents had also heard of it too and were preventing people from taking "souvenirs".

    --
    ..........FULL STOP.
  2. Ten thousand containers a year fall off ships?! by treat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ten thousand! With no responsibility for leaving behind a hazard. The cost of insurance seems to be cheaper than actually tying these things down.

    I wonder if money can be made by salvaging abandoned containers. Is this legal, or once it's rescued will you just have the contents taken from you?