Another timber spill approaches UK south coast

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency have said that timber has been spotted coming ashore between Pegwell Bay and Ramsgate and up to Margate.

The incident happened at 0815 Monday morning GMT in the Southwest Traffic Lane of the Dover Straits some 14 miles off Newhaven. The 137m vessel and its 25 man crew were heading from Sweden to Alexandria, Egypt when up to 1,500 metric tons of sawn timber was lost overboard. As a consequence, the vessel was suffering a 15 degree list which the Master managed to reduce by taking on ballast water.

Escorted by an ETV, Sinegorsk berthed late Monday evening at Southampton in order to re-stow the remaining cargo, thereby reducing the risk to life and the environment.

It is an uncanny coincidence that the timber is coming ashore on the south coast this week. In January of 2008 some 2,000 tons of timber washed ashore there after the Greek registered cargo ship Ice Prince sank off the coast of Dorset. A week long Ice Prince Arts Festival in Worthing to commemorate that incident is currently ongoing.

Contractors have been appointed by the Insurers to recover the lost cargo and Kent County Council are co-ordinating the local authority response.

Kent police have been authorised by the Receiver of Wreck to act on her behalf. The police have warned people not to remove any timber from the shoreline. Anyone who does so will be committing an offence and may be arrested. Failure to report any recovery of timber to the Receiver of the Wreck may also receive a fine of £2,500 under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

A timber reporting line for the general public has been set up Kent County Council. Any sighting should be reported on 08458 247247.