River closure to clear ship collision damage

A stretch of a river will be closed to clear up the damage caused by a crash which resulted in the release of tonnes of plastic nurdles.

It is estimated more than a billion tiny beads have washed up on the north-east England coast, after the ship Wind Orca collided with berthed container ship BG Orange at the Port of Tyne on 19 July.

As clean-up efforts continue to remove the nurdles from the coastline, Port of Tyne said the river would be shut on Thursday between Royal Quays and River Don from 09:00 BST and 18:00 to allow for "salvage operations".

On Tuesday the two damaged containers were cleared of the pellets, the port authority said.

Work would now be carried out to separate the gantry crane, which collapsed in the collision, and BG Orange, the port authority said.

The container ship will then be moved into the river.

The pellets have been washing up along the coast, from Littlehaven in South Shields, across the mouth of the Tyne to North Tyneside, up to Northumberland and down to Seaburn and Roker, Sunderland.

A Port of Tyne spokesperson said: "This remains a complex and critical operation, and we thank all rivers users for their patience while the work is carried out."

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