When MV Rena wrecked, hundreds of shipping containers were lost overboard and not all were recovered.
Ships don’t have to be wrecked to lose their containers – sometimes they fall off.
In 2019, approximately 226 million shipping containers went to sea, and some didn’t reach their destinations. The World Shipping Council estimates an average of 1,382 containers are lost at sea each year.
In 1997, one such container held 4.8 million pieces of LEGO®. It was lost when a freak wave hit the container ship Tokio Express off southwest England, tilting it 60 degrees one way, then 40 degrees back. The LEGO® container was one of 62 containers that fell overboard. Today, even after more than 20 years, LEGO® is still washing up on British and Irish beaches.
LEGO® washed up on Cornish beaches. Photo from Tracey Williams, founder of the Lego Lost At Sea project