Drifting Bath Toys Expected To Hit New England

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."

Causing pollution?

[Anonymous Coward]

Call me crazy, but what difference does it make if a container full of 'pollution' falls off a ship and sinks, or falls off a ship and floats? Still pollutes the oceans doesn't it?

Re:Rubber ducks seem nice and friendly...

[Black Rabbit]

You would probably find that the stacked blocks are joined together with large pins, just as they would be on a flatbed truck or rail car, just a few (!) boxes higher than what they would be on either. As stable as container ships are, things still have to be secured, as something as heavy as a container would shift so easily on even a gentle roll, potentially capsizing the ship.

Now, I haven't seen this for myself, but i just cannot fathom the idea of so many large unsecured objects stacked up so high on any sort of vessel.

Re:Rubber ducks seem nice and friendly...

[bill_mcgonigle]

We should mandate a beacon on these containers that activate based on water pressure. It would help avoid navigation dangers and encourage salvage.

When the beacon's battery is about to die, its last act is to blow a charge on a valve which allows water to fill the container, scuttling the debris. I bet it could be done for fifty bucks a container.