The 200 containers that may have been lost on the North Sea on Wednesday have not yet been found. A German coast guard search vessel has been unable to find anything near the Weiße Bank. Fishermen had previously reported that they saw containers there.

Media reported the ship involved was the Munich Maersk, but the shipping company has informed Maritime Danmark that they are not missing any containers. ‘We are aware of reports of container losses in the North Sea at the beginning of December. No Maersk vessels have reported loss of containers in this area. We are currently working closely with authorities in Germany and the Netherlands to investigate the matter further,’ said Maersk.

The rumours arose after several Dutch fishermen saw objects at great depth on their sonar. According to various sources, these were said to concern 200 containers at a depth of 41 metres near De Paal. A number of fishermen thought it was a targeted action to damage fishing cutters.

The Coast Guard resumed the search on Thursday morning.