“We know that the marine incident has brought a lot of public concern,” Yang Ming spokesman Steven Ka said on Tuesday. “We do apologise for all the inconvenience caused to local residents.

“Of course we will take full responsibility to recover and to minimise the impact to the marine environment.”

The Liberia-registered container ship’s insurers have appointed Varley Group to undertake the recovery of containers and debris. 

Early drift modelling suggests Newcastle beaches will remain debris free after more than 80 shipping containers fell overboard near the coast on the weekend.

Port Stephens beaches have copped the brunt of the debris, with car bumper bars, printer cartridges, wooden bowls, lollies, chips, cookies, packaged drinks and analogue clocks washing up.

Approximately 20 skip bins of waste have been recovered so far. 

Despite local clean-up efforts, Roads and Maritime Services, the agency leading the recovery work, has asked members of the public to steer clear.

“This continuing environmental pollution and recovery effort is our highest priority and we will continue to provide updates to the community,” RMS executive director Angus Mitchell said. 

Members of the public are asked to report any sighting of debris or containers to the NSW Maritime Info Line 13 12 36.

Any debris collected should stay separate from general waste.

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