Aerial surveillance crews and teams of divers are scouring the Port Stephens coastline in search of the containers which fell off a cargo ship last week.
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More than 30 skip bins and 33 bulk bags of debris have been recovered since the YM Efficiency lost the containers overboard during rough sea conditions on June 1.
Some of the 83 containers have been pulverised in the surf, spewing litter into the ocean and local waterways. Aerial searches have found large amounts of scattered waste at Dark Point, north of Mungo Brush. There is still debris being washed ashore on the strip from Hawks nest to Bennetts Beach, Snapper Point and Jimmys Beach.
Two teams of divers were deployed on Thursday to assess the water column and the seabed near Jimmys. A third team will be deployed to the south-east side of Shark Island and will investigate if there is any sign of containers in the area.
The Taiwanese shipping company has since apologised for the environmental disaster.
“We know that the marine incident has brought a lot of public concern,” Yang Ming spokesman Steven Ka said on Tuesday.
“We do apologise for all the inconvenience caused to local residents.
“Of course we will take full responsibility to recover and to minimise the impact to the marine environment.”
A NSW Maritime Environment Services vessel has collected six cubic metres of waste from remote locations in the bay in the past week.
Broughton Island has debris littered on its southern side, where seven bulk bags of waste have already been recovered.
A large quantity of litter has also been collected at Boulder Bay.
Members of the public have been asked to stay clear of any debris or containers and report them to the NSW Maritime Info Line 13 12 36.
Ongoing maritime safety information continues to be provided by Marine Rescue in local broadcasts.
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