Timber 'may be washed up on beach'

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which is monitoring the wood, said it looked as though it may be washed up on the coast at Dungeness in Kent , but it was too early to say for certain.

A meeting was held for local authorities to discuss what to do if the wood is washed ashore.

In January last year beaches were closed after more than 2,000 tonnes of timber was washed up along the Sussex coast following the sinking of the Greek-registered Ice Prince.

Coastguards were alerted by the 450ft ship Sinegorsk after it lost some of its load around 14 miles off the coast of Newhaven, East Sussex.

A spokeswoman for the MCA said the wood, made up of sawn timber that had been stored in bundles on the vessel, had stayed together in one block and floated around 10 miles up the coast in an eastwards direction since being dropped.

A coastguard tug is guarding the wood and warning other ships to keep their distance while a helicopter flew overhead for most of the day to assess the situation.

A spokesman for Transmanche Ferries, which operates ferry services from Newhaven to Dieppe, said its vessels were operating normally and that it was not expected the incident would affect future services.

But the spokeswoman said the timber could potentially pose a threat to small vessels in the vicinity if they were to crash into it.

The ship, which had come from Oskarshamn, Russia, and was bound for Alexandria, Egypt, was forced to anchor in the Solent while damage is assessed and the rest of its load is secured.