Dutch divers still haul up debris six years after container spill

Volunteer Dutch divers are still fishing for the Northern Sea debris six years after a disastrous delivery accident.

They are trying to clear the shallow Wadden Sea where the MSC Zoe – one of the largest cargoes in the world – has deposited hundreds of containers of automotive parts, televisions, bulbs, furniture and toys in a 2019 storm.

Despite cleaning efforts, the debris still throws the seabed from the tide wetland classified by UNESCO, which extends over the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

A gray summer day, they “recovered a set of nets and debris and I think it was electric cables, probably MSC Zoe,” volunteer Harold Batteram told AFP, 67, his diving suit covered with small crustaceans told AFP.

The spill has also released organic peroxide, a toxic and highly flammable chemical used in the manufacture of plastics.

“In a fraction of a second, all the beaches of the Wadden Sea were like a bunch of waste,” said Ellen Kuipers, director of the Cleanupxl project.

800 tonnes of waste

Installed in 2021 by four Dutch environmental groups, Cleanupxl sends rescue boats and divers to release the 800 tonnes of waste still on the seabed.

Kuipers said that the Dutch government had led a large part of the initial cleaning, but that efforts have been faded in recent years.

“They did a lot of cleaning, but it has become more and more difficult at the end, because the things they cleaned were only things” traceable at MSC Zoe, “she said.

In April 2024, the government published a previously confidential list revealing 6,000 locations where debris and waste could still be found.

Kuipers said that the emphasis should not only be on MSC Zoe debris, but on all waste on the seabed, because the sites are protected from UNESCO World Heritage areas.

“We do this to put pressure on the government so that they move and clean,” she said.

“And it is also for many people to know that everything we have at home – doing things – has traveled by a container.

“ Out of sight, out of the mind ”

Under an agitated sea, the divers recovered a downwind jacket from the pink child, bringing with dozens of baby crabs and starfish.

“It’s a noble goal, right?” said Batteram after spending almost three -quarters of an hour at 22 meters below the surface.

“There is a lot of waste at the bottom of the sea, not too many people are aware of it,” said the retired data scientist.

While part of what has been lost on MSC Zoe will float, “the majority will still be below”.

“It’s out of sight, out of mind,” he said.

“So we try to draw attention (people).”

© 2025 AFP