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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Max McKinney

Recovering a lost trove from a cargo ship, 130 metres below the surface

An additional 13 shipping containers have been pulled from the sea off the coast of Newcastle along with tonnes of debris scattered across the seafloor.

It was a busy week for contractor Ardent Oceania, which is using the specialist vessel M/V Pride to raise containers lost from the YM Efficiency almost two years ago.

The 13 additions took the total number of recovered containers to 23, leaving 39 still to collected.

The contractor, working about 25 kilometres offshore, has also been collecting products that were dislodged from containers during the fall from the ship or once they hit the seabed.

A remotely operated underwater vehicle fitted with a robotic claw has been used to remove a number of items, including mobility scooters and car tyres.

Ardent Oceania is required under the salvage contract to remove as much debris as possible.

The $15 million recovery operation commenced earlier this month.

The M/V Pride returned to port last weekend to unload 10 containers and resupply.

Waste contractor AVCON Projects began opening the containers this week, including one which housed two prized Chevrolet Silverado utes.

RECOVERY: Mobility scooters on the seafloor as seen from the camera on a remotely operated underwater vehicle.
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