Echo Beach Martha and the Muffins Ice Prince Timber Salvage Brighton Beach

brighton beach timber salvage after the ship ice price sank loosing 2000 tonns of timber

A MASSIVE clean-up operation is underway after 2,000 tons of timber washed up on Worthing's beaches.
Giant mountains of wood have hit almost every beach along the town's coastline, drawing visitors from across Sussex.
Worthing was worst affected, but timber is also washing ashore in Littlehampton and Shoreham and experts say it can also be found as far away as Beachy Head.

The timber comes from the cargo ship Ice Prince, which was on its way to Egypt when it sank 25 nautical miles south of Portland on Monday
Her crew of 20 was rescued, but around half of the timber they were transporting was lost to the sea.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is warning the public not to attempt to salvage any of the timber, although people have been seen loading wood into trucks from beaches in Goring and East Worthing.

Alison Kentuck, receiver of wreck, said: "The owners of the ship have appointed their own salvage company to come and retrieve the timber. I understand they will then try to sell it on.

"We are trying to get out the message that people need to stay safe and not attempt to take any of the timber from the beach.

"It is illegal and the police are taking a hard line on this. Anyone found to be doing so could be fined quite heavily.

"There have been people trying to do so, but when you explain their legal rights, most of them understand."

Worthing Borough Council is responsible for organising the clean-up efforts, although mayor Heather Mercer said the priority at the moment was ensuring people's safety.She said: "We are keeping the media up-to-date with what is going on and would urge people to take care and listen to the advice they are given.

"When I saw this, my first impression was 'wow, what a spectacle', but then the implications of it hit.

"The good thing is that the contractors have a good deal of experience in dealing with this kind of event as they were involved in what happened at Branscombe last year."

Many of those working for the MCA on this operation are volunteers, and Mrs Mercer said she is already planning a reception in her parlour to thank them for their hard workAs Worthing residents learned what was going on, thousands flocked to the beach to take a look at what many believed was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

Dozens could be seen taking photographs and many just stood watching in amazement at the sheer scale of what had happened.

Helen Moules, 50, of Thalassa Road, said: "It is just absolutely fascinating and the smell the wood is giving off is gorgeous -- it certainly makes a change from seaweed.

"When we got to the bottom of our road and turned the corner we couldn't believe what we were seeing.

"I've certainly never seen anything like it."

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• ice
• prince
• brighton
• beach
• timber
• salvage
• ship
• wreck
• echo
• the
• cutter
• and
• bunnymen

[ROCKsquareANORACK]

watch the whole video befor commenting you wanker

[ROCKsquareANORACK]

im glad you have time to watch

it takes me ages with my equipment my pc really is not up to handling video editing and my camera is just a casio exillim digital camera for stills with video capability

[ClemKropotkin669]

DL the audio from this video at soundnabber doht cohm.

[joshiep213]

i was part of the beach clean up crew on this and there was 5000 tonnes not 2000 theres still 3000 on the ship waiting to come up!!!

[LifeJourneyGuy]

Thanks for doing this video Sara! It's amazing seeing all that lumber at a beach I know so well!