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Ship loses cargo in storm, as clean up begins after flooding in northern Germany

A cargo ship caught in rough North Sea weather lost at least 270 containers, including four holding potentially dangerous substances, the Dutch and German coastguards said Wednesday.

Published: 3 January 2019 08:51 CET
Ship loses cargo in storm, as clean up begins after flooding in northern Germany
The container ship MSC ZOE, which lost up to 270 containers in rough North Sea weather. Photo: Havariekommando/DPA.

A cargo ship headed for Germany's Bremerhaven which was caught in rough North Sea weather lost at least 270 containers, including four holding potentially dangerous substances, the Dutch and German coastguards said Wednesday.

The Panama-registered MSC Zoe shed the containers containing mostly toys, furniture and auto spare parts while battling a storm, that was dubbed 'Zeetje' off the Frisian Islands, an archipelago off the northwestern Dutch coast also known as the Wadden Islands.

So far, around 20 containers have been located near the shores of these islands while another six were found in German waters.

Later on Thursday it emerged that a bag containing dangerous powder washed up on a small Dutch island.

“A bag containing 25 kilogrammes (55 pounds) of powder was found on the beach of Schiermonnikoog,” said Jan-Willem Zwart, spokesman for the security services of the Frisian Islands, identifying it as “organic peroxide,” a
highly flammable substance used in making plastics.

He told AFP the bag had come from one of three containers transporting organic peroxide that had been on board the MSC Zoe.

The storm also caused flooding and other damage in northern Germany.

The Dutch coastguard had earlier tweeted that three of the containers contained, in powder form,  highly flammable, potentially dangerous organic peroxides used in making plastics which can cause irritation if breathed in.

On Wednesday the Dutch coastguard tweeted the location of where the containers went overboard. They provided updates all day.

German coastguard sources said they had located one container holding organic peroxide among six containers that reached the country's coastline.

They also warned the public not to touch the containers if found, but to call police or the fire brigade.

The Dutch coastguard said the containers went overboard not far from the German island of Borkum. The cargo ship was mostly carrying toys, furniture and auto parts.

Dutch broadcaster NOS showed local people around one of the containers and pictured toys and other materials strewn across beaches as well as one man carrying off a flat screen television.

A Dutch coastguard spokesman told NOS it was likely the containers holding the peroxides had sunk.

A Dutch coastguard plane was due to undertake a new search on Thursday morning while strong winds were hampering the MSC Zoe's own attempts to carry out an inventory.

The mayor of Terschelling island, where some of the cargo washed ashore, told NOS he expected it would take several days to clear the beach of stray items from the containers.

The 2015-built MSC Zoe, which was headed to the northern German port of Bremerhaven, is one of the world's largest container vessels at 396 metres long and 59 metres wide.

Storm 'Zeetje'

It came as German cities reported flooding after the storm hit the mainland. Zeetje kept emergency forces in northern Germany on their toes on New Year's Eve as it triggered the first storm surge of the new year on the Baltic Sea coast.

In Wismar, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, streets were flooded on Wednesday after the water level rose.

Ferry connections around the seaside resort of Warnemünde, including the connection between Rügen and Hiddensee, were temporarily suspended.

The first storm of the year also caused some delays and train cancellations in the area.


High water levels in Wismar on Wednesday. Photo: DPA

Also on the Baltic Sea coast in Schleswig-Holstein, water levels rose above normal. In Lübeck and Flensburg, cars were under water. The police reported that in both cities, as well as in Kiel, waterlogged riverside roads had to be temporarily closed. No major damage had been reported in the afternoon on Wednesday.

In Hamburg, emergency services had to lift two large fallen trees from the street with a crane, a fire brigade spokesman said on Wednesday. Among other things, the trees had damaged several cars.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Record heat deaths and floods: How Germany is being hit by climate change

Germany was further confronted with extreme weather conditions and their consequences last year. With this summer likely to break records again, a new report shows the impact climate change is having.

Published: 22 April 2024 11:28 CEST
Record heat deaths and floods: How Germany is being hit by climate change

In 2023, more days of extremely high temperatures were recorded than at any time since records began, the European climate change service Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) wrote in a joint report published on Monday. 

The records go back to 1940 and sometimes even further.

“2023 has been a complex and multifaceted year in terms of climate hazards in Europe,” said Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Director Carlo Buontempo. “We have witnessed widespread flooding, but also extreme forest fires with high temperatures and severe droughts.” 

These events have put a strain on natural ecosystems, and have also challenged agriculture, water management and public health.

According to the report, around 1.6 million people were affected by floods last year, and more than half a million people were affected by storms. The weather- and climate-related damage is estimated at well over 10 billion euros. “Unfortunately, these numbers are unlikely to decrease in the near future,” Buontempo said, referring to ongoing human-caused climate change.

Heat turns deadly, even in Germany

Averaged across Europe, 11 months of above-average warmth were recorded last year, with September being the warmest since records began in 1940. 

A record number of days with so-called extreme heat stress, i.e. perceived temperatures of over 46C, was also registered. 

As a result of higher temperatures, the number of heat-related deaths has risen by an average of 30 percent over the past 20 years.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, at least 3,100 deaths in Germany were linked to heat in the first nine months of 2023.

“In some cases, for example heat stroke, heat exposure leads directly to death, while in most cases it is the combination of heat exposure and pre-existing conditions that leads to death,” RKI explained in a statement, adding that women tend to be affected more than men due to higher proportion of women in older age groups.

In Germany temperatures above 30C are considered a heatwave. As weather patterns change due to human-caused climate change, heat waves have increased in number and length.

READ ALSO: How German cities are adapting to rising temperatures

Historically Germany hasn’t faced so many severe heatwaves each year, and central air conditioning is not commonly found in the country. In cities across the Bundesrepublik, heat plans are being drafted and refined to try and prepare for further extreme heat events in the near future.

Delivery van stuck in flood

A delivery van stranded in flood water during a storm surge near the fish market in Hamburg last winter. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bodo Marks
 

Warming oceans and mountains and more rain

On average, the seas around Europe’s coasts were warmer than at any time since at least 1980. 

READ ALSO: Colder winters and refugees – How changing ocean currents could impact Germany

It was also much too warm on the glaciers in 2023. “After the record ice loss in 2022, it was another exceptional year of loss in the Alps,” Copernicus and WMO wrote. In these two years, the glaciers in the Alps lost around 10 percent of their volume.

Interestingly, the excess meltwater may be boosting hydroelectricity production in the short term. According to the report, conditions for the production of green electricity in 2023 were very favourable, with its share of the total electricity mix at 43 percent, the highest seen so far.

Overall, seven percent more rain fell last year than average. It was one of the wettest years on record, the report said. 

In one third of the river network in Europe, water volumes have been recorded that exceeded the flood threshold. There were severe floods in Italy and Greece, among other places, and parts of northern Germany were affected at the end of the year.

Hamburg and the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein were among regions hardest hit by floods in Germany last year. Northern sections of the Elbe river rose high enough to submerge Hamburg’s fish market several times among other places.

READ ALSO: Germany hit by floods as October heat turns into icy spell

2024 likely to continue breaking heat records

The recent report by Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization is in agreement with a UN report published last month, which noted that last year came at the end of “the warmest 10-year period on record” according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

“There is a high probability that 2024 will again break the record of 2023”, WMO climate monitoring chief Omar Baddour said, according to Science Alert.

Another year of record breaking high temperatures means Germany can likely expect more and longer heatwaves in the late spring, summer and early autumn seasons. Higher average temperatures are also correlated with an increase in extreme weather events like extreme storms and floods in parts of the country.

In drier parts of Europe it means an increase in droughts and wildfires.

With reporting by DPA.

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