AUTHORITIES have warned the public against salvaging timber “treasure” from the sea after a cargo ship spilled its load.
Severe weather saw the vessel loose a significant quantity of its load off the South Tyneside coast on March 2. Now officials are trying to stop a repeat of Whisky Galore and urging locals in Scottish coastal areas not to take washed-up wood for themselves.
The Ealing Studios comedy was adapted from a novel by Compton Mackenzie, which is based on the grounding of the 1941 SS Politician at Eriskay. The story tells how islanders recover crates of whisky for their own use as customs officials attempt to confiscate it.
With some of the timber now washing up on Scottish beaches, the public has now been cautioned to leave it where it lies.
Planks up to three metres long have been reported between Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders and St Andrews in Fife and failure to report removal of material lost from a vessel at sea is a criminal offence under merchant shipping law.
Alison Kentuck, receiver of wreck for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency,warned: “It is not a case of ‘finders’ keepers’.”
She said: “Our biggest concern is to make sure that members of the public don’t put themselves at risk attempting to retrieve any timber. The timber will not be suitable for use as a building material as it’s been saturated with salt water.
“If members of the public see any timber washed ashore, this can be reported to the Aberdeen Coastguard Operations Centre on 01224 592 334.”
The vessel, named Frisian Lady, was around 110 nautical miles east of Souter Lighthouse, off coast of South Shields.
John Rodigan, senior manager for Environment & Building Services at Fife Council, commented: “Fife Coast and Countryside Trust is leading on the clean-up for us in Fife and teams are now deployed to look for salvage on the shore line.
“When any salvage is identified, information will be passed to our parks, streets and open spaces teams to organise its removal as quickly as possible.
“We don’t need the public to report locations to us or the police as the situation is being regularly assessed.”
Chief Inspector James Jones of Police Scotland said: “Some areas of our coastline can be dangerous, with strong tides, deep water and rocky areas.
“Do not put yourself at risk by trying to recover any of the timber yourself – contractors who are brought in to clear the timber away have been trained to deal with such situations and have the equipment to do so, please leave it to the professionals.”
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