17 containers fall into the sea from a ship

The Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has issued a special warning that 17 empty containers that fell from a merchant vessel are floating in the sea, approximately 17 nautical miles west of the Port of Colombo.

The Department states that this incident occurred in the maritime zone marked as North Latitude 06 54’ and East Longitude 079 32’.

Considering the prevailing ocean current patterns, there is a high probability that these floating empty containers will drift towards the coastline extending from Beruwala, through Negombo, to Puttalam, the statement further indicates.

Therefore, all multi-day and small fishing vessels engaged in navigation and fishing activities in the relevant sea area have been advised to remain constantly vigilant and exercise extreme caution regarding this.

It is further requested that if any of these floating containers are observed, information regarding them should be immediately reported to the Radio Message Centre of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or to the nearest fisheries harbour officials.