Drifting floating objects. During the night from Monday to Tuesday, a commercial ship lost part of its cargo consisting of huge empty stainless steel tanks. Six of them are currently adrift in the English Channel and only one has been located. Empty, the tanks do not represent a danger to the environment but can collide with ships, of which there are a large number at this location, which marks the entrance to the Traffic Separation Scheme (DST) of the Strait of Pas-de-Calais .
The alert was given in the middle of the night by the crew of the ship which lost six 8 m long tanks just at the entrance to the DST, approximately 60 km off the coast of La Hague, in the English Channel. Due to difficult weather conditions, the ship quickly lost sight of the tanks, which drifted in the open sea. The danger represented by these floating objects was immediately reported by CROSS Jobourg to all ships present at that time in the DST. For its part, the maritime prefecture sent a similar message to all boats “which may sail in the sector”.
Five of the six tanks “probably leaked”
At the same time, French and British air assets were mobilized to try to locate the tanks. One of them was spotted in the Raz Blanchard, an area located between Cape de la Hague and the Channel Island of Alderney, renowned for the strength of its current, exceeding 12 knots. A first recovery attempt failed. “The weather conditions do not allow us to take it in tow but it has been marked with a beacon,” explains the maritime prefecture to 20 minutes. “The current changes direction with the tide and the tank will have a yoyo effect to ultimately stay in the same sector,” continues Premar. If the object is located, the danger remains present, in particular because many boats pass through this sector, large commercial vessels such as fishing or pleasure boats.
For the five tanks lost at sea, modeling their trajectory based on winds and currents makes it possible to estimate a “south-south-east” trajectory. “We know that the tanks were open and the fact of not being able to locate them despite the aerial resources deployed leads us to believe that they probably sank,” declares Premar. However, caution remains essential and the maritime prefecture has given notice to the owner of the ship which lost the tanks to “quickly take steps to intervene and seek solutions to recover them”.