Experts estimate that anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 shipping containers fall off ships each year. The problem is that they do not all necessarily sink.   Some remain afloat, just on the surface, almost invisible to an observer from a  ship.    Now a draft report of the official inquiry into the sinking of the sail training vessel Asgard II suggests that the a collision with a shipping container may account for the hull damage observed on the wreck.

Draft report shows ‘Asgard II’ may have collided with a container before sinking

A draft report of the official inquiry into the sinking has not been able to rule conclusively on the cause of vessel’s loss, but sub-sea camera footage of the hull point to impact.

The vessel was not raised for the investigation, but evidence suggests that planks stove in on either side of the bow and the full impact was taken on the keel.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) inquiry is understood to believe the ship hit a container which may have fallen off a merchant ship, or it may have collided with a whale.