Retrieval work has begun with the first of 60 shipping containers lost from the container ship YM Efficiency successfully lifted from the seabed off the coast of Newcastle on Monday.
The subsea lift of the first container took place at 09:00 using a hydraulic crane and rigging, remote underwater vehicles and a specially manufactured steel basket.
According to the manifest the first container is believed to be carrying furniture products. The container was brought to the surface intact and will not be opened until brought ashore to the waste processing facility. The container was successfully lifted from the ocean bed, transferred into the basket and safely on-board the salvage vessel Pride without releasing any further pollution into the environment.
Pride has begun salvage operations in clear weather with a moderate swell and slight seas, at the site of the main cluster of containers off the Hunter Coast in New South Wales.
The operation will continue throughout April, weather conditions permitting.
